FacilityMapper

Version 2 - See the MIGRATION guide to update

A VidMap draw tool for use with vNAS. It is a spiritual successor to VidMapper, but slightly more complex and aimed at managing maps and map sets.

While VidMapper is aimed at drawing ad hoc maps for smaller TRACONs, FacilityMapper is designed to build maps on the AIRAC cycle for entire ARTCCs. It is based on a manifest.json file, which is effectively a list of "recipes" for your facility maps, making it easy to issue updates on the cycle no matter what changes.

All maps are run through optimization prior to being written to file. Depending on the procedure, map type, and options, the way the source data defines the paths can cause several duplicate segments. Removing any segments that have already been drawn can save anywhere between a few and several thousand lines. For Composite maps, this optimization is run again after the two maps are combined.

Testing Note

Prior to loading them into vNAS Data Admin, use GeoJSON.io or a similar tool to verify the output so that you can adjust the manifest.json as necessary. The way certain procedures are coded varies, so the end result might not match what you might expect. In these cases, a simple change to the manifest.json will solve the issue. For example, certain SIDs and STARs do not have a core section, and are made completely of runway and enroute transitions around a single point. In these cases, the procedure will not look correct unless draw_runway_transitions is set to true.

See Manifest File Format for more details.

Requirements

• Python 3.10 or Later (Tested with Python 3.10.12)
• cifparse v2.0.5 or later

Instructions for Use

• Copy this repository to your computer using:

  • git clone https://github.com/misterrodg/FacilityMapper.git; or
  • Download the ZIP under the Code drop down and unzip to a location of your choice.

• Install cifparse with pip install cifparse.

• Download the FAA CIFP zip file. Copy the FAACIFP18 file from the zip into the ./navdata directory.

• Create a manifest file in the project root with the file name manifest.json.

  • See Manifest File Format for more detail.
  • If you want to auto-generate more targeted manifests to work from, try the Find function.

• Run the script (see Drawing the Facility for more detail).

Manifest File Format

An example manifest is available in the project root. You can rename the example to manifest.json in the project root, or use it as a guide to creating your own. As projects become more complex, it might be helpful to have different manifests per facility. In this case, additional manifests can be placed in the ./manifests directory and called via the --manifest [file_name].json switch.

More detail about Manifests can be found on the Manifest page.

Examples:

• example_manifest.json: Basic example manifest file showing all of the fields and their defaults, available in the root folder.
• EXAMPLES: More detail, and images of some of the various settings that are available.

Find Function

A Find function is available to generate example manifests. For example, running the command python3 find.py --airport KIAD --sid --star --iap --centerlines will generate a manifest called generated_kiad.json in the ./manifests directory containing all SIDs, STARs, IAPs, and Centerlines for KIAD. All defaults are included so that you can modify them if you desire, or delete lines if you are okay with the default.

For more detail, see FIND.

Drawing the Facility

Run the following command:

python3 main.py

The resulting file(s) will be in ./vidmaps.

Additional Command Line Arguments

--nodraw is available to skip the draw step. This is useful to run with the other command line options if you wish to run those steps only.

python3 main.py --nodraw

--purge is available to quickly delete all files in the ./vidmaps directory.

python3 main.py --purge

--refresh is available to refresh the database data (found at ./navdata/FAACIFP18.db). Run this command any time you replace the FAACIFP18 file. By default, the script will skip parsing the CIFP file and read from the database to save time.

python3 main.py --refresh

--manifest is available to specify different manifest files. By default, the script looks for a file named manifest.json in the project root, but additional manifests can be created with different file names in the ./manifests directory, and built using --manifest.

python3 main.py --manifest manifest_name.json

--list is available to print a map list json file in the ./vidmaps directory based on the STARS Definition Objects in the manifest. Its name will be based on the name of the manifest used to create it. For example kiad.json will create map_list_kiad.json.

Note: The map list will only contain a list of those maps with STARS Definitions.

python3 main.py --list