A GEOVISUAL ANALYTIC TECHNIQUE FOR EXPLORATORY

ANALYSIS OF ONLINE DISCOURSES

_______________
A Thesis
Presented to the
Faculty of
San Diego State University
_______________
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Science
in
Computer Science
_______________
by
Kanwar Gurnawaz Singh Buttar
Fall 2010


iii
Copyright 2010
by
Kanwar Gurnawaz Singh Buttar
All Rights Reserved


iv
DEDICATION
I would like to dedicate this thesis to my parents, who have been an everlasting
source of inspiration in my life. I would not have been able to achieve what I have without
their support.



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ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS
A Geovisual Analytic Technique for Exploratory Analysis of
Online Discourses
by
Kanwar Gurnawaz Singh Buttar
Master of Science in Computer Science
San Diego State University, 2010

This thesis project focuses on designing and programming an implementation of a
geovisual analytic technique to evaluate online participatory decision making. The
4D (spatio-temporal) geovisualization technique called a Grapevine was developed by
researchers at University of Washington, to evaluate the quality and scale of participatory
decision interactions during an online discussion about improving transportation in the
central Puget Sound region. The 4D aspect of the technique derives from its representation of
location (latitude, longitude), type of discourse interaction, and time of its occurrence. The
theory behind the grapevine comes from two National Research Council (NRC) publications
that synthesized research on how the analytic-deliberative process can improve decision
making about risks to public health, public safety, and the environment. The grapevine
technique can be used to distil and cluster specific types of on-line discourse events, rank the
quality of on-line participation and represent spatial trends in on-line discourses. This work is
about the automation of grapevine functionalities including robust database queries in a
desktop Geographic Information System (GIS) environment based on Environmental
Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcGIS software.




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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................................v
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................................x
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1
2 BACKGROUND ...........................................................................................................4
2.1 LIT Web Portal ..................................................................................................4
2.2 Grapevine: A Geovisual Analytic Technique ....................................................7
3 DESIGN .......................................................................................................................11
3.1 Grapevine Features Automated ........................................................................11
3.2 ArcGIS Desktop ...............................................................................................12
3.2.1 ArcScene ................................................................................................ 13
3.2.2 Geoprocessing ........................................................................................ 14
3.2.2.1 Geoprocessing Framework ........................................................... 15
3.2.2.2 Scripting ........................................................................................ 16
3.3 LIT Discourse Database ...................................................................................17
3.4 PYODBC .........................................................................................................20
4 USER MANUAL .........................................................................................................21
4.1 Posts .................................................................................................................22
4.2 Replies on a Post ..............................................................................................24
4.3 Post-Reply Relationship ...................................................................................24
4.4 Concerns ..........................................................................................................25
4.5 Comments on a Concern ..................................................................................25
4.6 Concern-Comment Relationship ......................................................................26
4.7 Votes on Posts ..................................................................................................26
4.8 Post-Vote Relationship ....................................................................................27
4.9 Votes on Concerns ...........................................................................................28


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4.10 Concern-Vote Relationship ............................................................................28
4.11 Votes on Post-Replies ....................................................................................29
4.12 Vote-Post-Reply Relationship .......................................................................29
4.13 Votes on Comments to a Concern .................................................................30
4.14 Vote-Concern Comment Relationship ...........................................................30
4.15 Visual Cue 1: A Coiling Stem .......................................................................31
4.16 Visual Cue 2: Lots of Nodes ..........................................................................31
4.17 Visual Cue 3: Lots of Buds ............................................................................32
4.18 Visual Cue 4: An Open Proliferation of Shoots and Leaves .........................33
4.19 Visual Cue 5: An Open Proliferation of Tendrils ..........................................34
4.20 Discourse Contributions by Zip Code............................................................35
5 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................45
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................46



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LIST OF FIGURES
PAGE
Figure 3.1. ArcGIS desktop architecture. ................................................................................13
Figure 3.2. Typical geoprocessing tool. ...................................................................................15
Figure 3.3. ArcToolBox. ..........................................................................................................16
Figure 3.4. LIT discourse database. .........................................................................................18
Figure 3.5. Relationships between tables. ................................................................................19
Figure 4.1. Grapevine analysis toolbox. ..................................................................................22
Figure 4.2. Posts tool dialog box. ............................................................................................23
Figure 4.3. Post nodes shapefile (in red). .................................................................................24
Figure 4.4. Post node details. ...................................................................................................24
Figure 4.5. Replies on posts (in blue). .....................................................................................25
Figure 4.6. Post-reply relationship. ..........................................................................................25
Figure 4.7. Concerns (in red). ..................................................................................................26
Figure 4.8. Comments on a concern (in blue). .........................................................................26
Figure 4.9. Concern-comment relationship. ............................................................................27
Figure 4.10. Votes on posts (in ultramarine). ..........................................................................27
Figure 4.11. Post-vote relationship. .........................................................................................27
Figure 4.12. Votes on concerns (in ultramarine). ....................................................................28
Figure 4.13. Concern-vote relationship. ..................................................................................28
Figure 4.14. Votes on post-replies (in ultramarine). ................................................................29
Figure 4.15. Vote-post-reply relationship. ...............................................................................29
Figure 4.16. Votes on concern-comments. ..............................................................................30
Figure 4.17. Votes-concern comments relationship. ...............................................................30
Figure 4.18. Visual cue 1 dialog box. ......................................................................................31
Figure 4.19. Visual cue 1 values. .............................................................................................32
Figure 4.20. Cue1.png. .............................................................................................................33
Figure 4.21. Visual cue 2 values. .............................................................................................34
Figure 4.22. Cue2.png. .............................................................................................................35


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Figure 4.23. Visual cue 3 values. .............................................................................................36
Figure 4.24. Cue3.png. .............................................................................................................37
Figure 4.25. Visual cue 4 values. .............................................................................................38
Figure 4.26. Cue4.png. .............................................................................................................39
Figure 4.27. Visual cue 5 values. .............................................................................................40
Figure 4.28. Cue5.png. .............................................................................................................41
Figure 4.29. Discourse contributions by zip code dialog box..................................................42
Figure 4.30. Discourse contribution output. ............................................................................43
Figure 4.31. Discourse contribution line graph. ......................................................................44



x
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Dr. Piotr J ankowski and Dr. Robert Aguirre for giving me the
opportunity to work on this project and for providing constant support and motivation. I am
also thankful to Dr. Carl Eckberg, who with his experienced advice has always guided me to
a right path. A special thanks to Dr. Ming-Hsiang Tsou for becoming part of the thesis
committee.
I would also like to thank my parents for the sacrifices they made to help me to attend
graduate school.



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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Geovisualization, also known as Geographic Visualization, refers to a set of tools and
techniques for analyzing geospatial data through the use of interactive visualization.
Geovisualization represents a set of cartographic techniques and practices that helps in data
exploration and decision-making processes. This technique has a lot of advantages over
traditional static maps which have a limited exploratory capability. Geovisualization and
Geographic Information System (GIS) makes our map more interactive by adding the ability
to explore different layers of the map and changing its visual appearance.
The major challenge for a Geovisual Analyst is an ever increasing amount of multi-
dimensional, multi-source, time-varying and geospatial digital information. Analysts have to
evaluate, analyze and make decisions based on these information streams. Most of the times
this kind of analysis has to be done in time-critical situations and demands efficient,
integrated and interactive tools that assists the user to explore, present and communicate
visually large information spaces. All these factors have contributed to the idea of Geovisual
Analytics, an emerging interdisciplinary field that integrates perspectives from Visual
Analytics (grounded in Information and Scientific Visualization) and Geographic
Information Science (including work in geovisualization, geospatial semantics and
knowledge management, geocomputation, and spatial analysis) [1]. Geovisual Analytics
tools aid analysts in identifying relevant geospatial information, data, and knowledge through
computer-based visual interfaces. Geovisual Analytics thus helps us in recognizing useful
information in enormous datasets which otherwise is difficult to find using traditional
methods. Tools that are highly interactive and support exploration are required for Geovisual
Analysis [2]. The whole idea of using Geovisual Analytical technique is the dissemination of
results to decision makers who need a concise communication of the interpretations made by
an analyst. Geovisual Analytics tools visualization of data and analysis of observed patterns
with human interpretation and domain knowledge [3].


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Geovisual Analytical tools can be both web based and desktop based. Environmental
Systems Research Institute (ESRI) is a well known software development and services
company providing Geographic Information System (GIS) software and geodatabase
management applications. ESRI offers a number of tools for management and analysis of
spatial data which can be customized to suit each of our respective application. ESRIs GIS
software called ArcGIS is a well known suit of software product allowing users to author,
analyze, map, manage, share, and publish geographic information. It provides a robust set of
GIS capabilities suitable for many applications.
This project describes the design, programming, and the implementation of a 4D
(spatio-temporal) Geovisual Analytic technique, known as grapevine, to evaluate online
participatory decision making. The 4D aspect of the technique derives from its representation
of location (latitude, longitude), type of discourse interaction, and time of its occurrence.
Grapevine is an organic-looking, geo-referenced 4D structure of participatory interaction
used to display fine-grained emergent patterns among hundreds of human-Computer-Human-
Interaction (HCHI) events distributed in space and time [4]. The grapevine technique can be
used to distil and cluster specific types of on-line discourse events, rank the quality of on-line
participation and represent spatial trends in on-line discourses. The Grapevine technique can
be used to evaluate any participatory interaction irrespective of the number of people and
duration of discourse. As a case study in my project the interaction data for the grapevine
technique comes from a large online field experiment called the Lets Improve
Transportation (LIT) challenge conducted in late 2007. Around 200 community participants
from three counties in the central Puget Sound region of Washington State discussed for over
a month regarding the best transportation improvement package for the region. This thesis
report describes the automation of grapevine functionalities including robust database queries
in a desktop GIS environment based on Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI)
ArcGIS software.
The report is organized as follows: Chapter 2 describes the background and details of
LIT online experiment and the grapevine as a geovisual analytic technique for evaluating the
interaction data. Chapter 3 describes the design, programming elements used for
implementing and automating grapevine functionalities followed by user manual presented in
Chapter 4. User manual discusses the list of automated grapevine functionalities and the way


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these can be used by an analyst. The closing Chapter 5 concludes with the possible future
enhancement of the automated grapevine analytic tool.


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CHAPTER 2
BACKGROUND
In a democratic society participatory decision making is an established approach to
allocating resources and making choices effecting peoples lives. People can express their
views on political, economic, and environmental management decisions. Public participation
can happen at any level of decision making, including economic, political, management,
cultural or social. Public participation can be an effective way of influencing governments
decision in a representational manner.
2.1 LIT WEB PORTAL
A lot of factors such as local, state and federal laws govern the transportation
department decisions to improve regional transportation. Transportation agencies across the
United States do involve the public in their decision making process to help prioritize
different projects such as highway expansions, new light rail lines and determining possible
sources of funding. But the problem is that local government transportation agencies engage
the public at a very late stage by producing a list of transportation projects and funding
sources allocated to pay for those projects and then asking people if the list is acceptable [5].
Involvement at such a late stage of decision process severely limit publics- ability to
influence the selection of projects and hence the selection of choices they are asked to vote
for. To overcome that, a research project known as Participatory Geographic Information
System for Transportation (PGIST) was carried out as an effort to involve public throughout
the transportation improvement process. The experiment was conducted online using a
website called Lets Improve Transportation (LIT) developed by a research team based at the
University of Washington. LIT combines web mapping and online deliberation capabilities
with a structured five-step decision-making process designed to enable large groups (200+)
of participants to asynchronously collaborate in the construction, evaluation, and selection of
their own transportation improvement program [5]. The experiment was held in late 2007
over a 28 day period wherein residents of Seattle area participated using online deliberation


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tools located at http://www.letsimprovetransportation.org. Registered participants were
engaged in a hypothetical situation in which they were asked to provide Seattle area policy
makers their recommendation regarding a regional transportation ballot measure. The
ultimate goal was to identify which package of projects and funding options the participants
could collectively recommend.
The LIT websites flexible workflow architecture enables it to be reconfigured to suit
other similar decision problems. LIT webportal used for this experiment is composed of five
progressive and overlapping stages. These five steps and their respective sub-steps in the
decision process are as follows [5]:
1. Discuss Concerns
a. Map your daily travel
b. Brainstorm concerns
c. Review Summaries
2. Assess transportation improvement factors
a. Review factors
b. Weigh factors
3. Create transportation packages
a. Discuss projects
b. Discuss funding options
c. Create your own package
4. Select a package for recommendation
a. Discuss candidate packages
b. Vote on package recommendation
5. Prepare group report
a. 5a: Review draft report
b. 5b: Vote on report endorsement
The objective of each of the above step is either deliberative or analytic. In
step 1, participants enter details about their daily travel path and raise their concerns or views
about improving the transportation in the central Puget Sound region. All these concerns or
views are then grouped together into a set of common themes or summaries by a moderator.
These summaries are then reviewed and voted by participants in order to make sure these


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themes represent their original concerns. In step 2, different factors are reviewed and
quantified by participants that can be used as a multiple criteria for creating the best
transportation improvement package. In step, participants are given a chance to create their
own transportation improvement package. Participants can discuss funding options for any
project chosen from a large spatial inventory of proposed projects from all over the Central
Puget Sound region. After that an offline analysis is done to determine six diverse packages.
In step 4, participants deliberate on these six packages and then vote on to decide which of
these packages is most preferable. In the concluding step 5, the final report containing the
outcome of deliberation process and final package recommendation is prepared. This report
is reviewed, endorsed by the participants and handed over to the concerned authorities.
The design of LIT online experiment is an initiative to improve the analytic-
deliberative decision making process. To evaluate the quality and scale of public
participation in an analytic-deliberative process means deciphering the client-server
interaction event as proxy for analytic or deliberative HCHI activity [4]. Thus in context
to LIT web portal, an event is an interaction between computers. Interaction between
computers refers to the occurrence of HCHI between people in real geographic space and
time [4]. Following are the four major analytic and deliberative HCHI activities of sending a
message:
1. Type your concern
2. Type your comment on someone elses concern
3. Type your post
4. Type your reply to someone elses post
All events other than the four above and voting are only analytic. Voting to agree or
disagree with a message is considered both analytic and deliberative. In LIT web portal
voting can be done on concerns, concern comments, posts or replies to posts. All these
activities of LIT webportal are logged in a Microsoft Access event database. The analysts
applied the grapevine techniques on the event database using 3D GIS software. The primary
objective of the analysis was to determine the most productive participatory interactions
using five natural grapevine-looking visual criteria as discussed later in this chapter.


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2.2 GRAPEVINE: A GEOVISUAL ANALYTIC TECHNIQUE
Grapevine is an organic-looking, geo-referenced 4D structure of participatory
interaction use to display fine-grained emergent patterns among hundreds of thousands of
HCHI events distributed in space and time [4]. Grapevine technique can be used as an
evaluation tool for any participatory interaction irrespective of the number of people and
duration of their involvement. Using the grapevine techniques analysts can quickly and
reliably recognize the most productive daily clusters of HCHI activity.
In our case study of determining the best transportation improvement package for the
central Puget Sound region, the grapevine showed the growth of participant deliberation
coiling up through time. All these grapevine features were processed and displayed in ESRI
based 3D GIS product known as ArcScene. In the context of LIT experiment, nomenclature
of different grapevine features is defined as follows [4]:
1. Mainstem
A mainstem grows from one node to another. A node on the mainstem represents a
message (post or concern) written by the user on LIT web portal. The mainstem is considered
most productive when stem turns back and forth because of rapid message turn-taking from
participants at different locations. The mainstem is unproductive when it grows straight up
with little twisting because of the lack of rapid message exchange or lack of geographic
diversity.
2. Node and Internode
It represents a message added along the mainstem from a particular location and point
in time. Nodes can generate buds if there is a reply. Many large nodes with short internodes
are the most productive because participants are rapidly posting messages and voting to agree
or disagree. On the other hand it is unproductive when few or small nodes are generated
because participants are not posting messages or voting on each others messages.
3. Bud
It represents a message that at least one other participant replied to with their own
message. Buds generate shoots and leaves. Generation of many large buds represents a high
productivity because many participants are replying to each others messages. It is
unproductive when small buds are generated because participants are not replying to each
others messages.


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4. Tendril
A tendril represents a vote to agree or disagree with the message in a node, bud, or
leaf. A tendril grows from a node, bud, or leaf to the specific time and location of the voting
participant. Productive tendrils are nodes with many tendrils branching out in all directions at
a relatively low angle, indicating rapid and geographically diverse voting responses.
Unproductive tendrils are nodes with a few short tendrils branching out at a relatively high
angle because of delayed and non-geographically diverse voting responses.
5. Shoot
A reply to a bud is a shoot. A shoot grows from a bud and ends in a leaf at the time
and location of the responding participant. Shoots branching out in all directions at a
relatively low angle to the bud are highly productive whereas shoots branching out in only a
few directions at a high angle relative to the bud are unproductive.
6. Leaf
A leaf is a message sent as a reply. A leaf is generated from a bud and exists at the
end of a shoot. High productivity can be spotted when there are many large leaves, because
participants voted to agree or disagree with a reply. On the other hand a low productivity
means a few or small leaves, because of few participants who voted to agree or disagree with
a reply.
Analysts use following five visual cues as multiple-criteria for determining the most
productive clusters of grapevine which are then used for further analysis:
1. Visual Cue 1: A Coiling Stem
Grapevines mainstem grows from one node (post or concern) to the next. A node
represents a post or a concern raised by the user on LIT web portal. The location (latitude,
longitude) of the user is determined by a self-reported home zip code. The third dimension is
the time (Pacific Standard Time) coordinate logged by the LIT web portal whenever user
writes a post or concern. The mainstem grows towards the time-space coordinate whenever a
new node is generated. The mainstem will be highly coiled if it rapidly twists and turn back
and forth with a dense collection of nodes. This will be the case when many participants
interact from many different locations. On the other hand, the mainstem will be relatively
straight and barren with a few nodes separated by time if many people are not interacting. In


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terms of mathematical formula, visual cue 1 values for all nodes from i to j that lie within a
certain span of time can be calculated as follows:-
SUM of ABS of (from Node i to j) [(LAT i, LONG i) (LAT j, LONG j)]
To determine the visual cue 1 value of a segment of grapevine, analysts calculate the
sum of the absolute value of all the differences in latitude and longitude between each node
on the mainstem. The further apart the nodes are in real geographic space, the higher the
value, all things being equal. However, if there are lot of nodes, the cue value will also be
higher. If there are only two nodes and they have exactly the same location (latitude,
longitude), the result is 0.
2. Visual Cue 2: Many Nodes
The grapevine will be highly productive if there are a lot of nodes along the
mainstem. This is the case when there is a high voting activity concerning posts or concerns.
The size of the node is determined based on the number of votes it has received. To
determine the visual cue 2 value for a segment of grapevine, analysts compute the total
number of nodes generated and then compute the average size of node, which represents
the number of votes that the given node received. The larger the node symbol the higher the
cue value. If there are only two nodes and they each got one vote, the result is 3 ( 2 (number
of nodes) +1(average number of votes)). The mathematical formula for all nodes from i to j
that lie within a certain span of time is as follows:
SUM [Node i to Node j] + AVE No. of VOTES [Node i to Node j]
3. Visual Cue 3: Many Buds
Participants can also reply to a post or a concern. In terms of grapevine we can say
that the node (post or concern) has developed in to a bud giving rise to a reply. All buds
develop from nodes but not all nodes generate buds. Thus buds are special nodes on the
mainstem that actually got a reply rather than just a vote. The size of a bud (post or concern)
is determined by the number of replies (reply to a post or concern comment) it got. So if
there are only two buds and they each got one reply, the result is 3 ( 2 (number of buds) +1
(average number of replies)). The mathematical formula for all buds from i to j that lie within
a certain span of time is as follows:
SUM [Bud i to Bud j] + AVE No. of REPLIES [Bud i to Bud j]


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4. Visual Cue 4: An Open Proliferation of Shoots and Leaves
As discussed in visual cue 3, a node develops into a bud when other participants
reply. A highly productive bud is one when there is a open pattern of shoots branching off at
a low angle to the bud extending out in all directions. It implies that participants from many
different locations replied to the post or concern. In order to determine this visual cue value,
analysts calculate the ratio of total spatial differences divided by total temporal delays. The
mathematical formula is as follows:
ABS((Latitude of bud Latitude of leaf) + (Longitude of bud Longitude of leaf)) / ABS
(Time of bud creation Time of leaf creation)
The absolute value of the sum of differences in participant latitude and longitude
locations is divided by the absolute value of the sum of differences in time between the
message and the reply. The greater are the differences in participant locations and the more
rapid the replies, the higher the cue value.
5. Visual Cue 5: An Open Proliferation of Tendrils
Visual cue 5 is similar to visual cue 4, the only difference being that analysts deal
with nodes and tendrils rather than buds and leaves. Whenever a participant votes on a post
or concern, a tendril is grown up and out from a node. The LIT webportal is designed in a
way that a participant can also vote on a reply to a post or on a comment to a concern, thus
generating an additional set of tendrils off of leaves. A node is known as dead node if it
gets no reply or vote. Tendrils that branch off at a low angle indicate a relatively rapid voting
response. The mathematical formula is as follows:
ABS((Latitude of node Latitude of tendril) + (Longitude of node Longitude of tendril)) /
ABS (Time of node creation Time of tendril creation)
The absolute value of the sum of differences in participant latitude and longitude
locations is divided by the absolute value of the sum of differences in time between the
message and the vote. The greater the differences are between participant locations and the
more rapid the voting, the higher the cue value.
The above discussed visual cues can help analysts in distinguishing fine-grained
clusters of activity wherever they emerge. The grapevine technique can be treated as a useful
extension of general purpose statistical techniques especially during exploratory data analysis
[4].


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CHAPTER 3
DESIGN
This chapter describes systems architecture and the programming elements used for
implementing and automating grapevine functionalities. Software tools, programming
language and technology used for the design and development of all the modules and
components of the grapevine geovisual analytic technique is covered in this chapter. The
visual representation of the grapevine tool followed by its analysis is carried out in ESRI
ArcGIS Desktop environment. The input discourse database obtained from the LIT web
portal is stored in Microsoft Access.
3.1 GRAPEVINE FEATURES AUTOMATED
In the last chapter, I discussed grapevine as a possible geovisual analytic technique
for analyzing the outcomes of online LIT experiment. Two categories of functions were
identified as the candidates for automation:
1. Creation of the grapevine structure, given the proper input.
Grapevine is a space-time structure. To visualize interactions in space and time as a
grapevine, the data needs to be subset by deliberative event types. A deliberative event
type is a message or response to a message. Visualization of a deliberative interaction event
in space and time requires two types of information events:
The location and time a client created a message.
The location and time a client responded to that message, with a vote or response.
The client-server interaction event database is in Microsoft access and will be
discussed in detail later in this chapter.
A grapevine structure is comprised of three main elements:
Mainstem : Each node on the mainstem represents location and time when a client
created a concern or a post. To create a mainstem of a grapevine, subset post or
concern event types.


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Leaves : Leaves are replies to messages along the mainstem. A reply can be made to
both a post and a concern. To create leaves of a grapevine, subset replies or concern-
comment event types.
Tendrils : Tendrils are votes on messages. A vote can be made on a post, on a
concern, on reply to a post or on comment to a concern (concern-comment).
2. Ranking subsets of grapevine.
The second category of functionality, which is more advanced, is to help an analyst
rank portions or segments of a grapevine structure. The analyst can subset and compare
sections of grapevine using a specified length of time (expressed in some number of days).
For example, a researcher would like to compare the quality of deliberative activity by
days, computing each of the five visual cues (discussed in the previous chapter) as multiple-
criteria evaluations. Thus for each DAY beginning in 0000 hours and ending in 2399 hours, a
certain number of grapevine features will have to be sub-selected and their attributes used for
calculating each of the five visual cues.
3.2 ARCGIS DESKTOP
A number of GIS tools are available on the market. In this project, all the grapevine
functionalities have been automated in a desktop GIS environment based on Environmental
Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcGIS software. ArcGIS Desktop is the primary
platform for GIS professionals to compile, analyze, and manage geographic information. It is
a family of three products:
ArcMap
ArcCatalog
ArcToolbox
All three products share the core components represented by ArcObjects, user
interface, and development environment. Each product provides a specialized GIS
functionality where ArcMap offers a visualization and mapping environment, ArcCatalog
provides data management capabilities, and ArcToolbox offers analytical functions. ArcGIS
Desktop also comes with optional extensions that offer specialized tools and additional
capabilities to enhance the system. Developers can build customized GIS applications and
extend the capabilities of ArcGIS Desktop using .NET, Visual C++, and Visual Basic. Visual
Studio is used as the primary programming language for ArcGIS Desktop applications and


13
Python is the primary scripting language. Figure 3.1 [6] shows the architecture of ArcGIS
Desktop software illustrating the division of participating software components into logical
layers and physical tiers [6].

Figure 3.1. ArcGIS desktop architecture. Source: ArcGIS Resource Center. Rich client:
ArcGIS desktop, 2010. http://resources.arcgis.com/content/enterprisegis/10.0/
rich_client_desktop, accessed Oct. 2010.
3.2.1 ArcScene
ArcGIS Desktop comes with a number of extensions to add more capabilities for
performing extended tasks such as raster geoprocessing, three-dimensional analysis, and map


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publishing. ArcGIS 3D Analyst is one such powerful extension providing tools for three-
dimensional (3D) visualization, analysis, and surface generation. ArcGIS 3D Analyst helps
users in the following ways [7]:
Creating three-dimensional views directly using GIS data.
Analyzing three-dimensional data using cut/fill, line-of-sight, and terrain modeling.
Viewing data from a global-to-local perspective.
Navigating through multiresolution terrain data seamlessly.
Doing spatial analysis in two or three dimensions.
Visualizing modeling or analyzing results in three dimensions.
Using three-dimensional models and symbols for realism.
Exporting visualizations into videos.
ArcGlobe and ArcScene are the two applications provided by ArcGIS 3D analyst
extension. This project uses ArcScene for the visual representation of grapevine structure.
ArcScene helps analysts in managing 3D GIS data effectively, performing 3D analysis,
creating 3D features, and displaying layers with 3D viewing properties [8]. ArcScene also
provides a tool for converting two-dimensional (2D) GIS data into 3D features. ArcScene
helps in creating realistic scenes where users can navigate and interact with GIS data.
3.2.2 Geoprocessing
Geoprocessing is a fundamental part of ArcGIS. Essential GIS tools such as data
analysis, data management and data conversion are provided by geoprocessing.
Geoprocessing tools (operators) operate on the data in ArcGIS (tables, feature classes,
rasters, and so on) and perform tasks that are necessary for manipulating and analyzing
geographic information across a wide range of disciplines. A geoprocessing tool is executed
by the geoprocessor object. GeoprocessorClass is a main class that simplifies the task of
executing geoprocessing tools and acts as a single access point for the execution of any
geoprocessing tool in ArcGIS, including extensions [9]. The geoprocessor contains properties
and methods that make it possible to execute tools, set global environment settings, and
examine the resulting messages [9].
GIS tasks can be automated using geoprocessing, as it provides a mechanism to
combine a series of geoprocessing tools in a sequence of operations using models and scripts.


15
Geoprocessing is based on a framework of data transformation as shown in Figure 3.2 [10].
A geoprocessing tool takes ArcGIS datasets as inputs (feature classes, tables, and rasters),
applies an operation against the data, and creates a newly derived dataset as output. There are
hundreds of such geoprocessing tools. Geoprocessing helps in automating work to solve
complex problems by chaining together sequences of tools, feeding the output of one tool
into another.

Figure 3.2. Typical geoprocessing tool. Source: ArcGIS
9.2 Desktop Help. What is geoprocessing? Esri website,
2010. http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisdesktop/9.2/index.cfm
?TopicName=What_is_geoprocessing?, accessed
Oct. 2010.
3.2.2.1 GEOPROCESSING FRAMEWORK
The Geoprocessing framework is a small collection of built-in user interfaces for
organizing and managing existing tools and creating new tools [11]. The basic components of
the framework are as follows [11]:
The ArcToolbox (see Figure 3.3) window for navigating the collection of
geoprocessing tools and opening them for execution.
The tool dialog box for interactively filling out tool parameters and executing the
tool.
The Command Line window for typing in a tool name followed by its parameters and
executing the tool.
The ModelBuilder window for chaining together sequences of tools.
Methods for creating scripts and adding them to the ArcToolbox.
ArcToolbox is the primary entry point into the geoprocessing framework [12]. The
tools in ArcToolbox are organized into toolboxes and toolsets providing a rich set of
functionality across a wide range of disciplines. The ArcToolbox window is a tree-view user
interface and can be viewed in ArcScene by clicking the Show/Hide ArcToolbox window
button on the standard toolbar. Developers can create their own tools by organizing them into
new toolsets and toolboxes and sharing them with any ArcGIS user. The geoprocessing tools


16

Figure 3.3. ArcToolBox. Source: ArcGIS 9.2 Desktop
Help. A whirlwind tour of geoprocessing. Esri website,
2010. http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisdesktop/9.2/index.
cfm?TopicName=A_whirlwind_tour_of_geoprocessing,
accessed Oct. 2010.
can either be run from a command line or via scripting, or can be chained together via
ModelBuilder.
3.2.2.2 SCRIPTING
Geoprocessing tasks can be time intensive since they are often performed on a
number of different datasets or on large datasets with numerous records. Scripting is an
efficient method of automating geoprocessing tasks. A program that uses a scripting
language is called a script. In geoprocessing framework, scripts can be used to create new
tools. Advantages of using scripting languages, such as Perl and Python, in geoprocessing
framework are as follows [11]:
Scripting languages have been extended with third-party libraries for things such as
advanced math and statistics, web automation, database queries, and advanced system
utilities.
Availability of low-level geoprocessing functions, such as cursors and functions to
access the properties of ArcGIS data, in scripting.
Scripts are great for wrapping other software- the gluing together of applications.


17
Scripts can be executed outside ArcGIS from the operating system prompt, provided
ArcGIS is installed on the machine.
Scripting languages have a short learning curve, making the project development
easier and more fun.
Python is supported as a geoprocessing scripting language in ArcGIS 9.3. For this
project, python is used as a scripting language to create new geoprocessing tools. There are a
lot of advantages to using Python. Programming in Python is fast and allows for efficient
development as well as connectivity to a vast number of open source programs written in
Python, C, or C++. Python is a powerful open-source programming language. Python scripts
are cross-platform and available Python libraries include tools to connect to commonly used
relational databases.
The two functionalities of grapevine discussed earlier in this chapter have been
automated by creating a new toolbox, Grapevine Analysis Tools, containing a number of
python scripts as tools. These tools automate the visual representation of grapevine in
ArcScene followed by automating the five visual cues, discussed in Chapter 2, and ranking
each day of the LIT experiment based on the visual cue values. All these tools take LIT
discourse database stored in MS Access format, discussed later in this chapter, as input. All
these grapevine analysis tools are discussed in detail in Chapter 4.
3.3 LIT DISCOURSE DATABASE
Discourse database is a relational database in MS Access format obtained from the
LIT web portal. This database is an input to each of the grapevine analysis tool discussed in
Chapter 4. The database obtained from LIT webportal contains data regarding peoples input
and feedback on improving transportation in the central Puget Sound region of Washington
State. The grapevine geoprocessing tool requires database to be in a specific format for
successfully querying the relevant data. The raw data obtained from LIT webportal was
processed and organized into a specific format which is compatible with all the grapevine
analysis tools. Dr. Aguirre from University of Washington in Seattle was instrumental in
organizing the database in the standard format compatible with the grapevine tools. The
database (see Figure 3.4) has eight tables as follows:


18

Figure 3.4. LIT discourse database.
CONTENT_Post
This table contains data about all the posts generated over a month long LIT
experiment. The data from this table is queried to draw a node on the mainstem.
CONTENT_Concern
This table contains data about all the concerns raised in the LIT experiment. The data
from this table is queried to draw a node on the mainstem.
CONTENT_Post_Reply
This table contains data about all the replies made on the corresponding posts. The
data from this table is queried to draw a leaf grown by a bud.
CONTENT_Concern_Comments
This table contains data about all the comments made on the corresponding
comments. The data from this table is queried to draw a leaf grown by a bud.
CONTENT_Post_Vote
This table contains data about all the votes made on the corresponding posts. The data
from this table is queried to draw a tendril grown by a node.
CONTENT_Concern_Votes
This table contains data about all the votes made on the corresponding concerns. The
data from this table is queried to draw a tendril grown by a node.
CONTENT_Post_Reply_Vote
This table contains data about all the votes made on the corresponding replies to a
post. The data from this table is queried to a draw tendril grown by a leaf.
CONTENT_Concern_Comment_Votes


19
This table contains data about all the votes made on the corresponding comments to a
concern. The data from this table is queried to draw a tendril grown by a leaf.
The relationship between all the above eight tables is shown in Figure 3.5. There is a
one-to-many relationship between each pair of tables described as follows:

Figure 3.5. Relationships between tables.
All the concern comments are associated with their respective concerns by
creating a relationship between pgist_cvo_concerns_idcolumn in the
CONTENT_Concern table (the primary key) and the concern_id column in the
CONTENT_Concern_Comments table (the foreign key).
All the concern votes are associated with their respective concerns by creating a
relationship between pgist_cvo_concerns_idcolumn in the CONTENT_Concern
table (the primary key) and the pgist_cvo_concerns_id column in the
CONTENT_Concern_Votes table (the foreign key).
All the concern comment votes are associated with their respective concern
comments by creating a relationship between Pgist_cvo_concern_comments_id
column in the CONTENT_Concern_Comments table (the primary key) and the
Pgist_cvo_concern_comments_id column in the
CONTENT_Concern_Comment_Votes table (the foreign key).
All the post replies are associated with their respective posts by creating a
relationship between Pgist_discussion_post_id column in the CONTENT_Post


20
table (the primary key) and the parent_id column in the CONTENT_Post_Reply
table (the foreign key).
All the post votes are associated with their respective posts by creating a
relationship between Pgist_discussion_post_id column in the CONTENT_Post
table (the primary key) and the Pgist_discussion_post_id column in the
CONTENT_Post_Vote table (the foreign key).
All the post reply votes are associated with their respective post replies by
creating a relationship between Pgist_discussion_reply_idcolumn in the
CONTENT_Post_Reply table (the primary key) and the
Pgist_discussion_reply_id column in the CONTENT_Post_Reply_Vote table (the
foreign key).
3.4 PYODBC
PYODBC (Python Open Database Connectivity) is a python module that allows using
Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) to connect to almost any database from Windows,
Linux, OS/X, and other operating systems. It implements the Python Database API
Specification v2.0, but additional features have been added to simplify database even more
[13]. PYODBC is licensed using MIT license and is free for commercial and personal use
[13].
PYODBC is the critical part of this project since robust SQL queries are required for
doing all the grapevine analysis operations. This project uses PYODBC version 2.1.7 for
Python to communicate with MS Access discourse database. Since ArcGIS comes with two
choices of relational database, the first is the personal geodatabase that comes with ArcGIS
and the second one is the external relational database such as MS Access. Each database has
its own pros and cons. For this project, external relational database in MS Access format was
chosen because of the following reasons:
The data from the LIT WebPortal is already in MS Access format.
SQL queries are easily performed in Python to perform database operations. They are
much faster than the same queries made against the ArcGIS geodatabase, and they
can be more complex. This is because SQL queries in ArcGIS go through several
layers (geoprocessor object calls to geodatabase and to underlying database engine),
which slows down the operations.
The geodatabase limits the types of SQL queries that are possible. For example, there
is only limited functionality of SQL where clauses, and there is no order by
clause.



21
CHAPTER 4
USER MANUAL
This chapter serves as the users manual for the Grapevine Analysis Tools. The
User manual discusses the list of automated grapevine functionalities and the way these can
be used by an analyst. Screenshots have been used for better understanding.
All the grapevine analysis tools implemented have been broadly classified into three
categories as follows:
1. Visual representation of Grapevine, which includes the following:
Posts
Concerns
Replies on the posts
Comments on the concerns
Votes on the posts
Votes on the concerns
Votes on the replies to the posts
Votes on the comments to the concerns
2. Ranking ordering of discourse activities for each of the following visual cues:
Visual Cue 1: A Coiling Stem
Visual Cue 2 : Lots of Nodes
Visual Cue 3 : Lots of Buds
Visual Cue 4 : An Open Proliferation of Shoots and Leaves
Visual Cue 5 : An Open Proliferation of Tendril
3. Discourse Contributions made by participants by zip code.
An ArcToolbox with the name Grapevine Analysis Tools was created (see
Figure 4.1) containing a number of python tool scripts for each of the above functionalities.
The visual representation of grapevine structure is displayed on the backdrop of the map of
Washington State since the LIT experiment was conducted in the central Puget Sound region


22

Figure 4.1. Grapevine analysis toolbox.
of Washington. Washington State zip code shapefile is obtained from the US Census Bureau
website [14] and imported into the ArcScene environment.
4.1 POSTS
This tool displays all the post nodes in the ArcScene environment. Basically, the
output of this tool is a three-dimensional (3D) point shapefile, with each point representing a
post node. The three dimensions of a post node are latitude, longitude, and time at which the
post was created. On clicking the Post tool in the ArcToolbox, a dialog box (see Figure 4.2)


23

Figure 4.2. Posts tool dialog box.
pops up asking for the input database directory location and the desired output shapefile
directory location. The input database is the LIT discourse database (discussed in Chapter 3) .
The output shapefile is any customized name which an analyst would like to give to the
output post nodes shapefile. After providing both the inputs, click on the OK-button to run
the tool. Once the execution completes, add the post nodes shapefile (see Figure 4.3) into the
ArcScene environment for visualization. Each node in the shapefile has all the necessary
information about itself. The identify tool of the ArcScene environment can be used to
display the attribute values of each node by just clicking on it. The sample information
revealed by identify tool is shown in Figure 4.4.
POINT_X and POINT_Y represent the longitude and latitude of the node. POINT_Z
represents the elapsed time (in minutes) since the first day of the experiment, and the Time
field gives information about the elapsed time in a user-friendly manner. Msg_Title
represents the post title. Message is the content of the post. Area and ZIP gives the
information about the participant location. Step and sub-step represent one of five major
steps comprising the LIT experiment (discussed in Chapter 2) and its subsequent activity.


24

Figure 4.3. Post nodes shapefile (in red).

Figure 4.4. Post node details.
4.2 REPLIES ON A POST
This tool displays all the nodes which replied to their respective posts. The tool is run
in a similar manner as Post tool. The output point shapefile and node data (obtained from
identify tool of ArcScene) is shown in Figure 4.5. The nodes in red color are posts and the
nodes in blue are their corresponding replies.
4.3 POST-REPLY RELATIONSHIP
This tool is used to see the visual links (see Figure 4.6) between each reply and its
corresponding post. The tool is run in a similar manner as Posts requiring the user to enter


25

Figure 4.5. Replies on posts (in blue).

Figure 4.6. Post-reply relationship.
LIT discourse database and desired output shapefile name as inputs. The output shapefile is a
polyline shapefile with each polyline having post node and reply node as its two end-points.
4.4 CONCERNS
This tool displays all the concern nodes in the ArcScene environment. It is run similar
to the Posts tool discussed in Section 4.1. The output point shapefile and node data (obtained
from identify tool of ArcScene) is shown in Figure 4.7.
4.5 COMMENTS ON A CONCERN
This tool displays all the nodes representing comments directed at their respective
concerns. The output point shapefile and node data (obtained from identify tool of
ArcScene) is shown in Figure 4.8. The nodes in red color are concerns and the nodes in blue
are their corresponding comments.


26

Figure 4.7. Concerns (in red).

Figure 4.8. Comments on a concern (in blue).
4.6 CONCERN-COMMENT RELATIONSHIP
This tool is used to see the visual links (see Figure 4.9) between each concern and its
corresponding comment. The tool is run in a similar manner as Posts and requires the user to
provide LIT discourse database and the desired output shapefile name as inputs. The output
shapefile is a polyline shapefile with each polyline having concern node and comment node
as its two end-points.
4.7 VOTES ON POSTS
This tool displays all the nodes representing votes for the respective posts. The user
votes by either agreeing or disagreeing with a post. Both voting outcomes are tallied while
counting the total number of votes for a post. The tool is run in a similar manner as Post tool.
The output point shapefile is shown in Figure 4.10. The nodes in red color are posts and the
nodes in ultramarine are their corresponding votes.


27

Figure 4.9. Concern-comment relationship.

Figure 4.10. Votes on posts (in ultramarine).
4.8 POST-VOTE RELATIONSHIP
This tool is used to display the visual links (see Figure 4.11) between each post and
its corresponding vote. The tool is run in a similar manner as Posts by requiring the user to
provide LIT discourse database and desired output shapefile name as inputs. The output
shapefile is a polyline shapefile with each polyline having post node and vote node as its two
end-points.

Figure 4.11. Post-vote relationship.


28
4.9 VOTES ON CONCERNS
This tool displays all the nodes representing the votes for their respective concerns.
The user votes by either agreeing or disagreeing with a concern. Both outcomes are tallied
while counting the total number of votes for a concern. The tool is run in a similar manner as
Post tool. The output point shapefile is shown in Figure 4.12. The nodes in red color are
concerns and the nodes in ultramarine are their corresponding votes.

Figure 4.12. Votes on concerns (in ultramarine).
4.10 CONCERN-VOTE RELATIONSHIP
This tool is used to see the visual links (see Figure 4.13) between each concern and its
corresponding vote. The tool is run in a similar manner as Posts and requires the user to
provide LIT discourse database and the desired output shapefile name as inputs. The output
shapefile is a polyline shapefile with each polyline having concern node and vote node as its
two end-points.

Figure 4.13. Concern-vote relationship.


29
4.11 VOTES ON POST-REPLIES
A user can also vote on the reply to the post. This tool displays all the nodes
representing the votes for their respective post-replies. The user votes by either agreeing or
disagreeing with a message. Both outcomes are tallied while counting the total number of
votes for a post-reply. The tool is run in a similar manner as Post tool. The output point
shapefile is shown in Figure 4.14. The nodes in blue color are post-replies and the nodes in
ultramarine are their corresponding votes.

Figure 4.14. Votes on post-replies (in ultramarine).
4.12 VOTE-POST-REPLY RELATIONSHIP
This tool is used to see the visual links (see Figure 4.15) between each post-reply and
its corresponding vote. The tool is run in a similar manner as Posts and requires the user to
provide LIT discourse database and the desired output shapefile name as inputs. The output
shapefile is a polyline shapefile with each polyline having post-reply node and vote node as
its two end-points.

Figure 4.15. Vote-post-reply relationship.


30
4.13 VOTES ON COMMENTS TO A CONCERN
A user can also vote on the comments regarding the concern. This tool displays all the
nodes representing the votes for their respective concern-comments. The user votes by either
agreeing or disagreeing with a message. Both outcomes are tallied while counting the total
number of votes for a concern-comment. The tool is run in a similar manner as Post tool. The
output point shapefile is shown in Figure 4.16. The nodes in blue color are concern-
comments and the nodes in ultramarine are their corresponding votes.

Figure 4.16. Votes on concern-comments.
4.14 VOTE-CONCERN COMMENT RELATIONSHIP
This tool is used to see the visual links (see Figure 4.17) between each concern-
comment and its corresponding vote. The tool is run in a similar manner as Posts by giving
LIT discourse database and desired output shapefile name as input. The output shapefile is a
polyline shapefile with each polyline having concern-comment node and vote node as its two
end-points.

Figure 4.17. Votes-concern comments relationship.


31
4.15 VISUAL CUE 1: A COILING STEM
This tool is used to execute the calculations for visual cue 1 (discussed in Chapter 2)
which is used to analyze the pattern of the grapevine structure by assessing the extent to
which the main stem of the grapevine has the coiling tendency. This tool ranks each day of
the LIT experiment based on the cue value for each day. This tool computes the following
two outputs as follows:
LIT experiment days sorted by their rank.
Bar graph for visual representation of the cue value for each day over the entire
duration of the experiment.
When running the tool- a dialog box, shown in Figure 4.18, pops up. It asks for the
following two inputs:
Input Database: LIT discourse database directory address.
Output Graphs: The directory workspace in which the bar graph will be created.

Figure 4.18. Visual cue 1 dialog box.
Click the OK button to run the tool. The output obtained is shown in Figure 4.19.
The Output window also outputs the location of the bar graph (in PNG format) for visual
cue 1. Browse to that location and open the file Cue1.png as shown in Figure 4.20.
The x-axis represents the days of the LIT experiment and y-axis represents the
cue values.
4.16 VISUAL CUE 2: LOTS OF NODES
This tool is used to execute the calculations for visual cue 2 (discussed in Chapter 2),
which is used to analyze the level of participation based on the number of nodes in the


32

Figure 4.19. Visual cue 1 values.
grapevine structure and the votes received by them. The tool computes an output in a similar
format to the one illustrated in Section 4.15. The output showing the cue values for each day
of the LIT experiment and the bar graph is shown in Figure 4.21 and Figure 4.22
respectively.
4.17 VISUAL CUE 3: LOTS OF BUDS
This tool is used to execute the calculations for visual cue 3 (discussed in Chapter 2),
which is used to analyze the level of participation based on the number of buds in the
grapevine structure and the replies received by them. The tool is run and produces output in a
similar format to the one illustrated in Section 4.15. The output showing the cue values for


33

Figure 4.20. Cue1.png.
each day of the LIT experiment and the bar graph is shown in Figure 4.23 and Figure 4.24,
respectively.
4.18 VISUAL CUE 4: AN OPEN PROLIFERATION OF
SHOOTS AND LEAVES
This tool is used to execute the calculations for visual cue 4 (discussed in Chapter 2).
The results of executing this tool facilities an assessment of the user participation based on
the proliferation of the shoots and leaves, which indicate how far apart the users, generating
replies to existing comments and posts, are geographically located. The tool computes an
output in a similar format to the one illustrated in Section 4.15. The output showing the
cue values for each day of the LIT experiment and the bar graph output is shown in
Figure 4.25 and Figure 4.26 respectively.


34

Figure 4.21. Visual cue 2 values.
4.19 VISUAL CUE 5: AN OPEN PROLIFERATION OF
TENDRILS
This tool is used to execute the calculations for visual cue 5 (discussed in Chapter 2).
The results of this tool provides an assessment of the pattern of the user participation based
on the proliferation of the tendrils, which indicate how far apart the users, voting on existing
posts and concerns are geographically located. The tool is run and produces output in a
similar format to the one illustrated in Section 4.15. The output showing the cue values for


35

Figure 4.22. Cue2.png.
each day of the LIT experiment and the bar graph is shown in Figure 4.27 and Figure 4.28
respectively.
4.20 DISCOURSE CONTRIBUTIONS BY ZIP CODE
This tool counts the discourse contributions made by the participants (posts, replies,
votes) by zip code, for the entire duration of the discussion, and displays for each selected zip
code a line graph showing the productivity of participants who came from the given zip code.
Upon clicking this tool in ArcToolbox, a dialog box shown in Figure 4.29 pops up. The tool
asks for the following three inputs:
Input Database : The LIT discourse database directory address.
Output Graph: The directory workspace in which the bar graph will be created.
Zip Code: The five-digit zip code for which the number of discourse contributions
will be calculated.
Upon clicking the OK button, the tool produces the output as shown in Figure 4.30.
The output line graph for the same is shown in Figure 4.31.


36

Figure 4.23. Visual cue 3 values.


37

Figure 4.24. Cue3.png.


38

Figure 4.25. Visual cue 4 values.


39

Figure 4.26. Cue4.png.


40

Figure 4.27. Visual cue 5 values.


41

Figure 4.28. Cue5.png.


42

Figure 4.29. Discourse contributions by zip code dialog box.


43

Figure 4.30. Discourse contribution output.


44

Figure 4.31. Discourse contribution line graph.



45
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
The Grapevine Analysis Tools enhance the use and understanding of geovisual
analysis and are extremely useful during exploratory data analysis. These tools enable the
analyst to take a more active role in the discovery process by distinguishing fine-grained
clusters of activity wherever they emerge. Anyone having a large amount of client-server
interaction data, which can be brought into a standard database format (discussed in
Chapter 3) can benefit from these tools by visually exploring patterns and making judgments
based on the results.
Future enhancements for Grapevine Analysis Tools might include the following:
The size of the nodes/buds can be made proportional to number of replies and votes
they receive. This will aid analysts in visually determining nodes/buds receiving
greater number of replies and votes.
Currently the tool displays the grapevine (mainstem, leaves and tendrils) for the entire
duration of the experiment. A tool can be made to display segments or portions of the
grapevine within the chosen range of time, for instance, all of the posts or replies with
a time stamp equal to a certain day.
The five visual cues rank each day of the LIT experiment based on the cue values. A
tool can be made to rank each step and sub-step of the LIT experiment based on the
cue values.
A software module can be developed to parse the interaction event logs generated on
the LIT web portal and collect the relevant data into MS Access database in the
format that is compatible with the Grapevine Analysis Tools.
A graphical query tool can be developed that allows to select any type and number of
grapevine elements from the map and returns descriptive statistics and queue values
for the selected elements.
Optimizing the performance of the analysis tools by using the SQL joins to query the
data from the database.



46
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