The purpose of this guide is to introduce the user to the features of Visual Sample Plan (VSP). This guide is arranged as a set of tutorials that allow the user to learn the basics of VSP in a "hands-on" environment.
Open the project named Example1.vsp. The project may be opened by selecting File / Open Project on the menu and choosing Example1.vsp in the File Open dialog box. The File Open dialog box may also be accessed by clicking the Open button of the toolbar or by using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-O .
When first opened, the Map view is the default view for the project. The Map view shows a plan view of the project site. The area colored red is the survey unit, or sample area. Samples only appear inside of sample areas. In this project, the samples are the light blue circles with crosses in them. A project can contain many sample areas. Expand the project window by pressing the Maximize button on the upper right corner of the project window.
On the Map view, you can zoom in to examine details of the project site. Choose View / Zoom In from the menu (or click on the Zoom In button on the toolbar, which is the magnifying glass with a plus sign in it). The cursor becomes a magnifying glass. Clicking on the map with the magnifying glass will center that point in the window and make the view larger. Click a couple of times on the map to see how it is magnified.
You can also zoom out to see a larger area of the project map. Choose View / Zoom Out from the menu (or click on the Zoom Out button on the toolbar, which is the magnifying glass with the minus sign in it). The cursor becomes a magnifying glass. Clicking on the map with the magnifying glass will center that point in the window and make the view smaller. Click a couple of times on the map to see how it shrinks.
To view the site map as large as possible while keeping it all visible in the window, choose View / Zoom Max from the menu. Do this now to restore the map view.
To focus in on a specific area of the site map use the Zoom Window feature. Choose View / Zoom Window from the menu (or click on the Zoom Window button on the toolbar). The cursor becomes a magnifying glass with a cross inside it. Take the cursor to the upper left corner of the sample area. Press and hold the left mouse button while dragging the cursor to the lower right corner of the sample area. (You will see a rectangle being drawn on the map – this indicates the area that will be magnified.) When the rectangle encloses the sample area release the mouse button and the map view will be magnified to show the area selected. If you didn't quite get the area you wanted, do Zoom Max and try again.
Use the Pan feature to position the map where you want it on your screen. Choose View / Pan from the menu (or click on the Pan button on the toolbar). The cursor will become a hand, indicating you are in Pan mode. Hold the left mouse button down and move the mouse to reposition the map. Turn off the Pan mode once the map is positioned to your satisfaction.
The sample area can be turned on or off (selected/deselected). Put the cursor on the sample area and left-click the mouse. The sample area is now deselected and is shown as a colored outline. A deselected sample area is protected from sampling operations. This is important when there are several sample areas on a map, and you want to perform different operations on them. Click on the sample area again to select it. (These operations can also be accomplished by using Edit / Sample Areas / Select / Deselect Sample Areas on the menu.) The Layer Control bar at the left of the screen can be used to select and deselect sample areas; click on the check box next to the sample area's name.
Information about individual sample points is available by right clicking on them with the mouse. Try this and note the dialog box that pops up. It shows the sample type, coordinates, label and other information about the sample. The label is empty by default, but can be changed by the user. Enter some text in the Label box and press the OK button. Note the label is displayed on the map. The label display can be turned off by deselecting View / Labels / Labels from the menu. Labels (and other map attributes) can be toggled on and off in the View Settings section of the Layer Control bar at the left of the screen.
The Graph view shows a graph relating to some aspect of the sampling design. Certain sampling designs do not have an associated graph. Select the graph view by clicking the Graph View button on the toolbar. (It may also be selected using View / Graph on the menu.)
This sampling plan is designed to provide data for a one-sample t- test. The associated graph shows the probability of deciding the sample area is contaminated on the y-axis vs. a range of possible, but unknown, true mean values on the x-axis. The graph is interactive. You can move the cursor to a value on the x-axis (true mean in this case) and see the related probability value on the y-axis. These cross hairs can be turned on or off by choosing Options / Graph / Display Cross Hairs from the menu. The values also appear on the status bar at the bottom of the window in numerical format.
See Example 2: Beyond the Basics for more information on the Decision Performance Goal Diagram (DPGD) which is the graph used in this example. You can interactively change design parameters from the DPGD graph view.
The Report view shows detailed information about the current sampling design. You can interactively modify the sensitivity analysis table by right-clicking on the report view. The report can be copied to the clipboard (Edit / Copy) so that it can be pasted into a word processor and further formatted. Select the report view by clicking the Report View button on the toolbar. (It may also be selected using View / Report on the menu.)
The Coordinate view shows the coordinates for each sample point on the map. Coordinates are segregated by sample area. These coordinates can be copied and pasted into a spreadsheet or word processor.
Edit / Copy can be used to transfer information to other Windows programs. The map view and graph view can be placed in the clipboard and then be placed in a graphics program such as Windows Paint. The report view text can be transferred to a word processor. The coordinate view can be transferred to a word processor or spreadsheet.
Edit / Paste can be used to transfer sample information into a sampling project. Paste is only active on the coordinate and map views. The information must be ASCII text (as from a spreadsheet, text editor, or word processor).
A. To paste sample data into the coordinate view, it must contain at a minimum the X and Y coordinates of each sample point to be placed in the project. The coordinates must fall inside a sample area or they will be ignored. Additional information may be included. For details on the sample data format, choose Help / Help Topics from the menu and click on the Index tab. Select the Sample Data Format topic to read about the various sample data formats.
B. To paste polyline data into the map view, it must contain an X and Y coordinate for each vertex of the polyline. Polylines are separated by a blank line.
Largest Unsampled spot can be used to see where deficiencies in sample coverage may exist. It shows where the largest circle can be placed inside each sample area without overlapping a sample. To see how this works, choose Tools / Largest Unsampled Spot . A dialog box appears. Accept the default parameters by pressing the OK button. It may take a few moments to find, depending on the number of samples, the complexity of the sample area, the accuracy requested, and the speed of your computer. When the spot is found, it will be displayed along with a dialog box describing its size. The spot can be hidden by choosing View / Largest Unsampled Spots on the menu.
Double / Triple / Quad Window. Multiple windows can be opened for a single project, each with a different view. The easiest way to achieve this is by choosing Window / Quad Window from the menu. This opens four windows, selects the four views (map, graph, report, coordinate), and arranges them on the screen. Double Window shows only the map and graph views . Triple Window shows the map, graph, and report views.
For an illustration of the map features, please refer to section 2.1 in the VSP User's Guide.