ArborTrail - An Overview
ArborTrail is a tree survey data collection utility intended for use by Arboriculturists. It is intended for the collection of tree survey data for various uses such as BS5837 development surveys and Health & Safety condition surveys but can also be used as a general purpose tree survey tool customisable for your own needs.The program is designed to work on PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) and
other hand held computers (or smart phones), which are able to run the Windows Mobile operating system. It will not work on laptops, tablets, pcs or any other hardware which does not use Windows Mobile. The program was designed and programmed by myself (from Feb 2006 - June 2007), initially, for use with my own survey work.
The original idea was to create a program, which would enable easy tree data collection on a small portable device and enable the plotting of trees on a built-in site map. Additionally, it would error check the data before I left each tree and once complete, enable a report table to be generated from its data. This must also include the X/Y drawing positions of all trees which removes the need for me to plot them manually later.
ArborTrail is NOT a tree management program nor is it a TPO management program.
ArborTrail has customisable drop down menus and customisable Comments & Recommendations.
ArborTrail will ONLY work with specially converted site drawings created from DXF files (as produced by AutoCAD). The ArborTrail drawing conversion requires basic CAD experience.
ArborTrail enables the direct entry of tree survey data using a stylus and a touch screen. The majority of data is entered using drop down menus with clickable pre-set comments & recommendations. The actual tree positions are plotted directly onto a built in CAD drawing. Once a survey has been completed, the data can be exported in text format (for use in Excel) or as an ArborCAD compatible file which contains the collected tree data and its CAD drawing X/Y
positions. If you are using ArborCAD then its simply a case of loading the exported file and plotting the trees automatically in one go. There is no need to manually plot anything. ArborCAD will then export a report based schedule from the data for inclusion within a report or Excel. This uses all collected data including comments and recommendations, so no typing is necessary.
To summarise, ArborTrail enables tree data to be quickly and easily collected. It can be used with a map (not essential) where it removes the need to manually plot trees on drawings at a later stage. There is no need to manually plot or type any text data. ArborTrail has the potential to save hours of tedious office work; it removes the possibilities of site errors occurring and avoids the need for pen and paper!
other hand held computers (or smart phones), which are able to run the Windows Mobile operating system. It will not work on laptops, tablets, pcs or any other hardware which does not use Windows Mobile. The program was designed and programmed by myself (from Feb 2006 - June 2007), initially, for use with my own survey work.
The original idea was to create a program, which would enable easy tree data collection on a small portable device and enable the plotting of trees on a built-in site map. Additionally, it would error check the data before I left each tree and once complete, enable a report table to be generated from its data. This must also include the X/Y drawing positions of all trees which removes the need for me to plot them manually later.
ArborTrail is NOT a tree management program nor is it a TPO management program.
ArborTrail has customisable drop down menus and customisable Comments & Recommendations.
ArborTrail will ONLY work with specially converted site drawings created from DXF files (as produced by AutoCAD). The ArborTrail drawing conversion requires basic CAD experience.
ArborTrail enables the direct entry of tree survey data using a stylus and a touch screen. The majority of data is entered using drop down menus with clickable pre-set comments & recommendations. The actual tree positions are plotted directly onto a built in CAD drawing. Once a survey has been completed, the data can be exported in text format (for use in Excel) or as an ArborCAD compatible file which contains the collected tree data and its CAD drawing X/Y
positions. If you are using ArborCAD then its simply a case of loading the exported file and plotting the trees automatically in one go. There is no need to manually plot anything. ArborCAD will then export a report based schedule from the data for inclusion within a report or Excel. This uses all collected data including comments and recommendations, so no typing is necessary.
To summarise, ArborTrail enables tree data to be quickly and easily collected. It can be used with a map (not essential) where it removes the need to manually plot trees on drawings at a later stage. There is no need to manually plot or type any text data. ArborTrail has the potential to save hours of tedious office work; it removes the possibilities of site errors occurring and avoids the need for pen and paper!
