- ATAC Topics
- SPACE Topics
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
- Intel Pentium or AMD Computer with a 1GHS or greater processor
- Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, Vista or 7
- 32-bit or 64-bit
- 512 MB minimum
- 200 MB of available disk space
- CD-ROM, DVD Drive, or Internet Connection
- 32 bit color
ATAC PROGRAM FILES FOLDER
During its installation ATAC will create a folder named "ATAC" that appears in your program files folder on your computer's C: Drive. The folder contains a number of files and folders that are used by ATAC. Some of the files are necessary to help ATAC run correctly.
ATAC needs the following files:
atac.exe – Located in the root of the ATAC folder, this file controls the software; ATAC cannot function without this file. Each user needs to have a shortcut to this file.
Admin.mdb database – Located in the root of the ATAC folder, this MS Access database controls each user’s login access and user rights for ATAC.
Tables.mdb database – Located in the root of the ATAC folder, this MS Access database stores any customizations to drop down fields etc in ATAC.
The table files are located in an Access 2000 database and stored in database tables corresponding to each drop down variable's name. The database where the field values are stored is called "Tables.mdb" and is located, by default, in the root of the directory you installed ATAC. However, you can move the Tables.mdb database to a network drive to share a common set of drop list values. Designate the location of the Tables.mdb database in the Accounts Manager.
Layouts folder – Located in the root of the ATAC folder, the “Layouts” folder allows each user to adjust their grid’s view to work better with different sets of data.
Layouts are formats for the grid which contain the color, location, justification, and lock status of the variables in the Hub’s Grid. The grid layouts for ATAC are located in the \LAYOUTS\ directory. Each distinct layout is saved in this directory and given the .LYT extension. The layout files should not be deleted or modified using anything other than ATAC. You can share layouts with other ATAC users by simply placing the layout file in your layout directory. Layout files do not contain any accompanying files to function, therefore, you only need to have the .LYT file to have a layout accessible to you.
Installing ATAC
DOWNLOADING ATAC
Only users who have purchased the Upgrade and Technical Support Plan will have access to the ATAC User Community. If you don’t remember your username and password please contact us.
- Navigate to the ATAC User Community on our web site: http://www.bairsoftware.com/login
- Enter the username and password that was provided to you.
Download the full version of ATAC for new installations, or download the upgrade version when upgrading from an older version.
- Download ATAC from the ATAC User Community, or insert the ATAC software CD that was provided to you.
- While you have administrative rights, run the installation file on your computer.
- Step through the installation process using a "Typical" install.
- Once ATAC is installed, launch ATAC and enter the username ("1") and the password ("atac")
- Verify that the sample data appears in ATAC's grid.
- Use the file menu to open your own data and beginning analyzing crimes!
NETWORK INSTALLATION
Each client computer must have the full version of ATAC installed. The installation provides each computer with vital registration files and application controls.
An exact copy of the ATAC programs file folder must be on the network. You can place this folder anywhere on the network as long as the structure of the folder is not changed and as long as each user will be able to access and have write permissions for the folder.
Once each client computer has ATAC installed, and a copy of the ATAC folder is on the network, each user must have a shortcut to the “atac.exe” file on the network. While each computer has ATAC installed individually they all point to a central folder allowing them to share databases, layouts, and code tables.
- Install the full version of ATAC on each client computer.
- Make a copy of the ATAC program files folder and place it on the network.
- For each computer create a desktop shortcut pointing to the “atac.exe” file on the network.
UPGRADING A NETWORK INSTALLATION
Each computer that has ATAC already installed can run the update to receive the newest and greatest features in ATAC. Each computer must have the full version of ATAC installed. The full installation provides each computer with vital registration files and application controls.
An exact copy of the ATAC programs file folder must be on the network. You can place this folder anywhere on the network as long as the structure of the folder is not changed and as long as each user will be able to access and have write permissions for the folder.
Once each client computer has ATAC installed, and a copy of the ATAC folder is on the network, each user must have a shortcut to the “atac.exe” file on the network. While each computer has ATAC installed individually they all point to a central folder allowing them to share databases, layouts, and code tables.
- Install the upgrade version of ATAC on each computer
- Make a copy of the new ATAC program files folder and place it on the network in a location that can be accessed by each user.
- For each computer create a desktop shortcut pointing to the “atac.exe” file on the network.
Opening Data
RETRIEVE ALL RECORDS
ATAC only displays the first 1000 records upon first opening a database. This is to reduce open times for very large data sets (those containing more than 1000 records.) To retrieve all your records once ATAC has opened the database, simply click the “retrieve all records” button in the upper left-hand corner of the main screen. That will return all the records. Note though, that ATAC will query against the entire database when you perform your first query so there’s no reason to retrieve all your records in order to perform a query.
If you do not want ATAC to retrieve only the first 1000 records upon first startup but instead return all the records in the table/view; set the “default query” under the preferences menu to query for all the records or a particular set of data.
- Open your ATAC database, then look at the record count displayed at the bottom of the hub.
- Click the “retrieve all records” button in the upper left-hand corner of the hub, all of your records will appear in the grid. Also, note the record count displayed at the bottom of the hub.
ATAC And Google Earth
CREATING ANIMATED DENSITY MAPS
Animated Hotspot maps are easy in ATAC. It only takes a few steps to build an animation using ATAC and Google Earth.
To align shapefiles with the dots on the map, your data and map must be in the same projection (coordinate system). Make sure that when you use ATAC’s geocoding feature which geocodes in decimal degrees or spherical coordinates, your shapefile data is saved in WGS84.
Use the reprojection wizard in ArcMap to reproject any projected (flattened) shapefile into WGS84.
Once reprojected, you can open that new shapefile into ATAC and have it align in the same coordinate system as Google Earth. You could also bring those same shapefiles into Google Earth as an image from ATAC. That would enable you to view your beats, districts, gang boundaries, or other line and shape data in Google Earth. If you wanted to display point data, simply open it in ATAC Map and use the “View in Google Earth” feature to save your tabular data as a kml file; this will bring both the points and the underlying data to Google Earth.
Create Animated Density Maps for Residential Burglaries:
- Using any of the query functions in ATAC, select your residential burglaries that occurred in the January 1, 2008 to January 31, 2008 time frame.
- Click the ATAC Map button to see your points on a map. You will need your X and Y coordinates in decimal degrees for viewing in Google Earth, so use ATAC’s geocoding feature to geocode your X and Y’s if necessary.
- In ATAC Map, click the Hotspot tab and select “Google Earth” from the hotspot color ramp.
- Click the “Identify Hotspots” button from the toolbar. A density of your January Burglaries will appear.
- Opening a shapefile in ATAC's mapping interface:
ATAC And ArcGIS
OPENING AN ATAC (*.ATX) DATABASE IN ARCGIS
With the addition of our new, free tool, SPACE, you can now open ATAC databases (*.atx) directly in ArcGIS. A key feature of SPACE is the ability to highlight records in ATAC and see those records selected in ArcMap. Conversely, you can select records in ArcMap, refresh them in ATAC, and see them highlighted. This is a significant advancement for ATAC and enables analysts to skip the step of exporting and importing data from their analytical applications into a format suitable for ArcMap.
You must have X and Y Coordinates to view your ATAC database in ArcGIS. Any X and Y coordinates that are not valid will be removed during the import. A notification will appear with a count of the records that were not imported.
To open an ATAC database in ArcGIS:
- Download and install the SPACE extension (available at www.bairsoftware.com/space).
- Once loaded, click the green button on the SPACE toolbar.
- Navigate to your ATAC database and open the database.
- Your points will be displayed in ArcGIS.
CREATE ARCGIS DATABASE
The "Create ArcGIS Database" feature from ATAC's File menu allows you to export your data for viewing in ArcGIS. The feature exports the complete database, despite any filters that you have applied to your data.
To export only data that you have queried:
- Create a new, temporary database by using the “Save ATAC database as” function.
- Open the saved database
- Use the “Create ArcGIS Database” feature under ATAC’s “File” menu
Geocoding Data
GEOCODING DATA IN AN EXCEL SPREADSHEET
ATAC can only geocode against a writable database because it literally writes the results of the geocodes to the X and Y variables in the database. You wont be able to use ATAC's geocoding feature while you have an Excel spreadsheet open in ATAC. This is due to the structure of Excel, which once open is then “locked for editing”. It’s not possible to write backwards to a spreadsheet. An Access Database however can handle it, because it allows for multiple users at any given time.
- Import your Excel file into MS Access
- Open the MS Access database in ATAC
- Use ATAC's Geocoding feature to geocode your data.
Fixes
INITIALIZING ATAC ERROR
Bug: The ATAC start-up screen freezes on "Initializing ATAC".
Solution: ATAC 2009 includes a number of improvements to the user interface that require higher color settings and resolution than previous versions of ATAC. Please make sure the User's "Display Settings" are set to "Highest (32 bit)" color and at least 1080 pixel resolution.
- Open the "Display Settings" from the Windows Control Panel.
- Select "Highest (32 bit)" from the "Colors" drop list.
- Adjust the "Resolution" to be at least 1080 pixels.
- Click "Apply" and then "OK".
- Open ATAC 2009.
THE BASICS
FEATURES
About SPACE
SPACE (Spatial Predictive Analysis Crime Extension) provides a set of unique crime analysis tools useful for analyzing spatial information and is offered as a free extension to ESRI’s ArcGIS application. In the past, analysts relied on the Animal Movement Extension for ArcView 3.x and CASE (Crime Analysis Spatial Extension) for ArcMap 8.3 through 9.2 to perform functions such as: sequencing events, linking stolen to recovered vehicles, calculating a study area based on a Minimum Convex Hull Polygon or Standard Deviation Ellipse, and determining clustering based on Nearest Neighbor analysis. SPACE builds upon these past extensions and improves them for use in ArcMap 9.2 or 9.3.
SPACE's crime analysis tools are optimized for use by crime analysts. It is developed as an extension for easy installation. SPACE is provided as a complimentary service, and is supported only through online materials. SPACE's Crime Analysis Tools will be updated based on suggestions from users.
Installing SPACE
1. Save the SPACE Zip file in the location of your choice.
2. Unzip the file by selecting it and choosing "Extract All" from the "File" menu.
3. Double click on the "setup.exe" file to install the SPACE extension. Follow the steps provided during the installation.
4. When the installation is complete, add the extension in ArcMap.
5. Add your data.
6. Use the SPACE toolbar to analyze your data.
Adding the SPACE extension to ArcGIS
1. Select "Extensions" from the "Tools" menu.
2. Select the checkbox next to "SPACE", and click "Close".
Adding the SPACE toolbar to ArcGIS
1. Select "Toolbars" from the "View" menu.
2. Select "SPACE". A check mark will appear next to "SPACE" in the menu.
Study Area (Activity Space)
SPACE's Activity Space function identifies the Study Area of your cases. It provides a standardized area for conducting and comparing analyses. Activity Space provides two options for creating your study area..
Exact extent of the points - Bounds the study area to the outer-most cases. This option creates a rectangle that touches your outer cases.
Extent of the points plus 10% - Creates a study area that is 10% larger than the exact extent. This also helps you avoid edge effect errors by including important geographic influences outside the extent of your cases.
Calculating Activity Space with SPACE
1. From the SPACE toolbar, click the "Activity Space" button.
2. Select the layer for which you will calculate activity space.
3. Select a Study Size by selecting either "Exact extent of points" or "Extent of points plus 10%".
4. Choose the location where you will save the new shape layer.
5. Click "Calculate."
Link Points
SPACE's Link Points connects two points that share common attributes. This allows you to calculate the distances from one point to another, between similar cases, or between two points in a series of events.
Creating Link Points with SPACE
1. From the SPACE toolbar, click the "Link Points" button.
2. Select the Source layer and field.
3. Select the Target layer and field.
4. Choose the location where you will save the new shape layer.
5. Click "Calculate".
Mean Nearest Neighbor
SPACE's Mean Nearest Neighbor function calculates a number of statistics based on your set of cases. Mean Nearest Neighbor increases in accuracy as the number of points increase.
Mean Nearest Neighbor Calculations
- The distance from each point to its nearest neighboring point.
- The mean nearest neighbor distance of your points.
- Standard deviation and z-score of your points.
- Comparison to the expected random results for your sample size and study area.
- Complete Spatial Randomness (CSR) test.
- The distribution of your points (Clustered, Uniform, or Random).
Calculating Mean Nearest Neighbor with SPACE
1. From the SPACE toolbar, click the "Mean Nearest Neighbor" button.
2. Select the layer for which you will calculate MNN.
3. Select the "Extent" of the layer that would like to analyze.
3.a. Selecting "Use current view as area for calculations" calculates MNN against your current view.
3.b. Selecting "Use selected layer's extent as the area for calculations" calculates MNN against your selected layer.
4. Click "Calculate".
5. The results for MNN analysis will appear in the white box within the MNN form.
Minimum Convex Polygon
SPACE's Minimum Convex Polygon draws a bounding polygon around the outer-most points in your series. The outlying events serve as vertices for the polygon and all other events fall within the polygon.
Creating a Minimum Convex Polygon with SPACE
1. From the SPACE toolbar, click the "Minimum Convex Polygon" button.
2. Select the layer for which you will calculate MCP.
3. Choose the location where you will save the new shape layer.
4. Click "Calculate".
Sequence
SPACE's Sequence analyzes the movement from one case to another. It draws lines from event to event in the order of their occurrence.
Calculating Sequence allows you to analyze the length, direction, angle, bearing, order, and interval of the lines between your points. This can help you identify whether your series is growing or shrinking, and will aid in your efforts to predict future events. This will also allow you to derive a number of important ratios based on your crimes.
Calculating Sequence with SPACE
1. From the SPACE toolbar, click the "Sequence" button.
2. Select the layer for which you will calculate Sequence.
3. Select the layer's "Sequence" field.
4. Choose the location where you will save the new shape layer.
5. Click "Calculate".
Spider Diagram
SPACE's Spider Diagram connects a group of points to their centroid with lines. This helps describe the relationship of points to their center. The Spider Diagram allows you to choose whether you would like to calculate based on an arithmetic or harmonic centroid.
Arithmetic Centroid - Uses the mean x and mean y of your points as the center.
Harmonic Centroid - Uses a weighted algorithm calculated against the mean x and mean y of your points as the center.
SPACE's Spider Diagram helps you determine whether the offender is a Marauder or Commuter, and whether the series is growing outward, or shrinking inward.
Creating a Spider Diagram with SPACE
1. From the SPACE toolbar, click the "Spider Diagram" button.
2. Select the layer for which you will create a Spider Diagram.
3. Select the Centroid (either Arithmetic or Harmonic) to designate the type of Spider Distance to use.
3.a. Selecting "Arithmetic" uses the mean X and mean Y of the points as the center.
3.b. Selecting "Harmonic" uses a weighted algorithm against the mean X and mean Y of your points as the center.
4. Choose the location where you will save the new shape layer.
5. Click "Calculate".
Standard Deviation Ellipse
SPACE's Standard Deviation Ellipse creates an ellipse based on the central tendency your cases.
Standard Deviation Ellipse calculations
- A Least Squares Trend Line is calculated across the distribution of your cases.
- Mean X and mean Y coordinates are calculated.
- Standard deviations from the error against the trend line are derived.
- A selected standard deviation is used to define the outer bounds of the ellipse.
Calculating Standard Deviation Ellipse with SPACE
1. From the SPACE toolbar, click the "Standard Deviation Ellipse" button.
2. Select the Input layer for which you will calculate SDE.
3. Choose the location where you will save the new shape layer.
4. Select the "Ellipse Size" by choosing between either 1, 2, or 3 Standard Deviations.
5. (Optional) Choose the "Weight Field".
6. (Optional) Choose the "Case Field".
7. Click "OK".
Telephone support
Call 800-380-1138
Monday-Friday, 7am to 3pm (Pacific Time)
Email support
Email support@bairsoftware.com
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