Decision support system development tools

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=185 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="David Ford Consulting Engineers"><U><B><IMG SRC="0d058960.png" border=0 width="88" height="150" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A></div> <bR> <div>    <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" > </FONT></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="4" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="156" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#FFFFFF" BORDERCOLORDARK="#FFFFFF" FRAME="VOID" RULES="NONE" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 WIDTH="146"><div> David Ford Consulting Engineers, Inc.</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 ><NOBR><div> 2015 J Street, Suite 200</div> <div> Sacramento, CA 95811</div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 WIDTH="146"><div> tel: 916.447.8779</div> <div> fax: 916.447.8780</div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 27 WIDTH="146"><div> <A HREF="mailto:support@ford-consulting.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:support@ford-consulting.com"><U>support@ford-consulting.com</U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div>    </div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="David Ford Consulting Engineers"><U>Home</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id461.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About us"><U>About us</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="news.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="News"><U>News</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="hydrologic_engineering.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Hydrologic engineering"><U>Hydrologic engineering</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="water_resource_planning.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Water resource planning"><U>Water resource planning</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="flood_economic_and_risk_analyses.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flood economic and risk analyses"><U>Flood economic/risk analyses</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="flood_warning.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Flood warning"><U>Flood warning</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="decision_support_system_development.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Decision support system development"><U>Decision support systems</U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=40 BGCOLOR="#3366CC" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="14400980ezthpx.png"> <div> <B>Decision support system development tools</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=440 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="06c00962egerdp.png"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="547" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 BGCOLOR=#CC0000 HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="537"><div> <B>Development tools</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 HEIGHT= 316 WIDTH="537"><div> Our staff includes programmers and engineers who have knowledge of and experience with a wide variety of operating systems (OS). We have developed DSS that execute in DOS; Windows 95/98/NT; and various implementations of UNIX and Linux. We have also developed cross-platform DSS that use multiple OS.</div> <div> To develop the DSS, we use Visual Basic, C/C++, Java, Fortran, Perl, Avenue, or some combination of these languages, as appropriate for the work at hand. We chose the language to meet the needs of the project. </div> <div> We know Web technology and have developed Web-based DSS components that use HTML, ActiveX technology, and scripting tools.</div> <div> We are familiar with and have used various commercial off-of-the-shelf tools in our DSS, including:</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Optimization libraries from IBM, Sunset, and research institutions.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">ESRI's tools for embedding geographic information system capabilities in our DSS.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c800000000.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Graphing and plotting tools from Visual Components, Autodesk, and Microsoft.</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 BGCOLOR=#339933 HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="537"><div> <B>Relational data management</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 HEIGHT= 286 WIDTH="537"><div> We use <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#111111" FACE="Verdana" >relational database management systems (</FONT>RDBMS) to create intricate data models for water resource <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#111111" FACE="Verdana" >DSS. Members of our staff are expert, experienced users of commercial RDBMS and knowledgeable SQL programmers, so can use these tools when appropriate for DSS that we develop. </FONT></div> <div> Even when dealing with a small DSS, we develop and deploy databases that enforce referential integrity, utilize properly joined tables, and make appropriate use of stored procedures, queries and views. We know the pitfalls of poorly designed databases and thus can anticipate and prevent errors resulting from unchecked data and user blunders. Moreover, we're familiar with the specific challenges inherent in storing hydrologic time series in relational tables, such as handling missing, unsorted, and null values, and coping with absent rows. </div> <div> Our staff has developed DSS that use Oracle, Jet (Microsoft Access), SQL Server, and Ingres RDBMS. We have used all of these database systems from within Visual Basic (using DAO and ADO), C/C++ (by way of embedded SQL), and Perl (using DBI/DBD as well as the ActivePerl Win32::OLE module).</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 BGCOLOR=#993399 HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="537"><div> <B>Time series data management</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 HEIGHT= 302 WIDTH="537"><div> For time series data management in decision support systems that we develop and in technical studies that we conduct, we frequently use HEC-DSS. This is a specialized data management system, developed by staff of the Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC). Unlike relational database management systems, HEC-DSS is <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" >optimized for storage and retrieval of water resource </FONT>time series<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Verdana" > in analytical processing applications. It organizes data into records of continuous, applications oriented elements. This provides an efficient method of storing and retrieving time series data.</FONT></div> <div> The HEC-DSS package consists of (1) a suite of utilities to store, retrieve, and display data; and (2) a callable subroutine library. We use both, depending on the requirements of the decision support system. To provide our clients with the best available tools for their decision making, we have also developed custom components that we use for HEC-DSS access in Microsoft Windows applications. </div> <div> We made extensive use of HEC-DSS in our <A HREF="improved_data_management__swp.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Improved data management: State water pr"><U>recent work for the California Department of Water Resources</U></A>, helping improve data management in their models of the California State Water Project.</div> <bR> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 BGCOLOR=#FF9900 HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="537"><div> <B>GIS tools</B></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=3 HEIGHT= 244 WIDTH="537"><div> Geographic information systems (GIS) provide us with an effective, efficient way to store, to visualize, and to manipulate and process spatially oriented data for our clients. In our work in hydrologic engineering, water resource planning, and flood warning, GIS tools play two important roles: </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c811111100.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">They produce displays that help us and our clients visualize key data and results, thus improving decision making.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700c811111100.png" HEIGHT="13" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">They provide a powerful data management and analytical processing capability.</div> <div> Our recent work for <A HREF="runoff_computations__los_angeles_county.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Runoff computations: Los Angeles County"><U>Los Angeles County</U></A> illustrates this well. In that work, we used GIS tools to "feed" models and to help us visualize the results of applying the models.</div> <div> We have experience with both commercial and public domain GIS packages, including ESRI's ArcView, Spatial Analyst, 3D Analyst, and MapObjects; GRASS; GeoMedia; and IDRISI.</div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>