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help.php
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help.php
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<?php
$subsys="help";
require_once('session.inc');
require_once('functions.php');
header_html("Dispatch :: Help");
?>
<body vlink="blue" link="blue" alink="cyan">
<?php include('include-title.php'); ?>
<table width="750">
<p>
<tr><td colspan="2" width="100%" bgcolor="blue">
<font color="white"><b> HELP</b></font></td>
<tr><td width="20"> </td><td>
<p>
<p class="textj">
This page provides brief instructions on how to use the software. This software is still
under development, so if you have a question about it, a feature suggestion or bug report,
send email to <a href="mailto:cad-info@forlorn.net"><cad-info@forlorn.net></a>.
<p>
<b>General Usage Notes</b>
<p class="textj">
Black Flower CAD is a Computer Aided Dispatch application which runs on a Netscape based Web browser (such
as Netscape, Mozilla, Firefox, et cetera.) The back end is a SQL database with PHP interface pages.
Certain parts of the critical JavaScript code in CAD are NOT currently written to work
under Internet Explorer, so use IE only at your own risk. It is recommended that you
view CAD in Full Screen mode (F11 or <b><u>V</u>iew|<u>F</u>ull Screen</b>) in order to take advantage
of all available screen real estate.
<p class="textj">
The tabbed menu selectors at the top of the screen allow the operator to load the different sections of
the CAD application. The Incidents, Unit Listing and Log View screens are the main operational modes, while
the Settings, Reports, and Help screens provide the other available options.
<p class="textj">
Every 15 seconds, most of the main CAD webpages will automatically refresh from the server. You will then
see any new messages that have been entered into CAD on other stations.
In general, pages that need to refresh will refresh; while pages such as the Settings, Reports and
Help screens will not.
<p class="textj">
You can also refresh the webpage whenenver you would like, by Reloading your browser (pressing Ctrl-R).
The screen will also automatically reload whenever you enter new data or move to a different screen.
<p class="textj">
Incidents, Incident Notes, and Log messages, that have been entered in the previous five minutes are <b>shown in bold</b>.
<p class="textj">
Please note that the clocks shown on the Log Viewer and Incidents pages reflect the web browsing client
computer's time; all other times throughout the program reflect the server time.
The administrator of this software should take care to ensure that the clients'
times are synchronized with the server's time.
<p>
<b>The <u>Incidents</u> mode</b>
<p class="textj">
The Incidents mode allows operators to create incidents, dispatch and manage unit assets,
and input a series of timestamped notes specific to each incident. By default, only the
currently open Incidents will be viewed. This is the recommended mode. If you do need to
revisit previous incidents for any reason, an option is available from the Settings screen to
toggle whether completed incidents are included in the list displayed in the Incidents screen.
<p class="textj">
When Editing an Incident, while the Incident Notes refresh from the server every
15 seconds (and therefore allow multiple operator stations to easily track the progress of an
incident), the other fields displayed for that Incident do not automatically refresh. You
will need to manually refresh the Edit Incidents page, or Save Incident and come back
to it later, in order to see another operator's general updates to that Incident.
<p class="textj">
<b>WARNING: Unless you use the Incident Locking feature (v1.8.0+), in the situation where:
<ul>
<li> Operator #1 is viewing an incident in the Edit Incident screen
<li> Operator #2 opens the same incident, makes and saves changes (other than adding Notes or
managing assigned Units)
<li> Operator #1 selects to Save Incident (whether or not they made changes to it)
</ul>
<p class="textj">
CAD will warn Operator #1 that the incident has been edited by another station, and will not allow
Operator #1 to save their changes.
</b>
<p class="textj">
For that reason it is recommended that you either use Incident Locking, or that multiple operators do not simultaneously Edit data in the
same Incident. If this is unavoidable (for example, so one operator can read information to dispatch
a unit, while another operator is getting additional information from the reporting party) you must
be careful to Cancel Changes on the first operator's unmodified screen, rather than Save Incident.
<ul>
<p class="textj">
<i>Tip</i>: You can navigate between the relevant fields in the Edit Incident screen using the tab key.
</ul>
<p class="textj">
Only units which are In Service may be assigned to an incident. By default, a newly created unit is not
set In Service. When creating Units, the operator must assign the appropriate units to be In Service.
<p class="textj">
Units which are already assigned to an incident may not be assigned to a different incident.
You must release them from the first incident before you will be able to select them for
assignment to any other.
<p class="textj">
In the Edit Incident screen, when you select a Unit to be attached to an Incident, this also
automatically assigns the Dispatch Time for that incident. You must select the On Scene button for
the unit in question, when it arrives, in order to set the Unit On Scene Time for the incident in general.
When the incident has been completed, selecting the Disposition of the incident will assign the Completed
Time to the Incident.
<p class="textj">
Units may be manually Released from Incidents, or you may do so automatically for the entire incident:
<p class="textj">
When completing an incident and saving it out of the system, you will have the (default) option to release
the assigned units to In Service status. If for whatever reason you do NOT want to release
the units, you must un-check that checkbox before saving the completed incident. <b>Saving the
completed incident will mark it as completed and remove it from the Incidents screen; you
will not have the chance after this point to release a unit from a completed incident. You must
then edit the unit manually to release it.</b>
<p>
<b>The <u>Unit Listing</u> mode</b>
<p class="textj">
The Unit Listing screen shows a list of units, their associated status, and the last Message that
was logged for that unit in the Log Viewer screen. Please note that Incident Notes are not
included with regards to Last Message display, only Messages which are unrelated to any Incident.
<p class="textj">
The Unit Listing is divided into three categories: Units, which are typical role-based units,
Individuals, which are typically officer-level roving units that will also initiate or respond to
calls, and Generic units. Generic units are a way to designate in CAD that a unit has
been requested from a foreign dispatch center, without necessarily knowing what unit number it is
or how many units that dispatch center may have available. For example, if a request was made for
Ambulance and Law Enforcement assistance, a Generic unit can be assigned from each agency, but will
still leave each agency's Generic unit In Service and available to be dispatched to other, simultaneous,
calls.
<p class="textj">
To view or edit the status of a unit, click on its name in the Unit Listing. You are then presented
with a Unit dialog. To change the unit's status from the Unit dialog, select the new status, enter an
optional comment, and click the Save button. Unit Types and Branches should be set appropriately when
the unit is first defined, and not usually changed after that. Unit Personnel will be the same for
Individual and Generic units, but may be changed each shift for true Units.
<p class="textj">
The Update time in the Unit Listing reflects the last time that unit's Status was changed, whereas
the Last Message time reflects the last time a message was entered. Messages are primarily logged
by the operator in the Log Viewer screen. Unit-specific messages are also created every time
an operator manually changes the unit's status in the Unit dialog, and when the Unit is assigned
to or released from an Incident.
<p>
<b>The <u>Log Viewer</u> mode</b>
<p class="textj">
In the Log Viewer mode, you are presented with a list of log
entries. The data entry fields of the top line are used to add new entries into the log.
<p class="textj">
The Log Viewer list can be switched into one of three modes of display (this setting can be changed
in the Settings screen):
<ul>
<li> Most Recent 25 -- This is the default mode, and will always display the most recent 25 messages.
<li> Hourly Entries -- Displays the messages entered during a one hour time period. Initially showing
the current hour, you can navigate forwards and backwards through other hourly periods.
<li> All Log Entries -- Displays every log entry in the database -- this will typically be <i>quite</i> a few entries.
</ul>
<p class="textj">
To add a new log message using the data entry fields at the top of the list, select a Unit from
the drop-down Unit box, then write the text of your log message in the Message text-entry box.
Then save the message in the database.
<ul>
<p class="textj">
<i>Tip</i>: To save the message, as an alternative to clicking on the Save button, you can also just
press Enter in the Message text-entry box.<br>
<p class="textj">
<i>Tip</i>: The Log Viewer screen should load with the drop-down list box selected. Then, you
can press the first letter of the unit you're looking for, to scroll down through the list without
needing to use the mouse. Then press Tab to get to the Message box.
</ul>
<p class="textj">
If you decide you do <i>not</i> want to save a message you have begun to write, you can click
the "Clear" button to clear the drop-down and text-entry boxes.<br>
<p class="textj">
</td></tr></table>
</body>
</html>