User Manual
© Copyright 2004 Calvin Martini.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
Table of Contents
3.1 Creating a New Member Record
3.2 Creating a New Search Report Record
3.3 Creating a New Training Class
3.4 Creating a New Calendar Event
3.5 Editing an Existing Member
3.6 Editing an Existing Search Report
3.7 Editing an Existing Training Class
3.8 Editing an Existing Calendar Event
7.3 Administration (If authorized)
8.1.3 Displayed Certifications
15 GNU Free Documentation License
1 Contacts
The E-GADS! project area on SourceForge is the central location for information about the software. Please navigate to http://sourceforge.net/projects/e-gads/ where you will find information on patches, user forums and the latest releases.
2 Overview
E-GADS! (Electronic GSAR Administrative Database System) is an internet-based application designed to help ground search and rescue teams maintain membership records, training records and search reports. It is internet enabled in order to help spread the workload instead of relying on one or two individuals.
In recognition of the fact that GSAR teams typically have limited funds, E-GADS! is developed entirely around open source components. The software application itself is distributed under the GNU Public License which permits non-commercial use of the software at no cost. Please refer to the README_License.txt file included in the distribution package for further information.
3 Quick Reference
If you read nothing else, read this section which provides step-by-step procedures for the most common tasks. All of these procedures assume that you are logged in.
3.1 Creating a New Member Record
- Choose the “Member” option from the “New” menu.
- Complete the form. For users with multiple team access, choosing the “Team Province” will populate the “Team” selection list; for users with single team access, the “Team Province” and “Team” fields will be pre-selected and non-editable.
- Add any certifications in the “Certifications” section.
- Press “Save” to save the data and return to the main view.
Refer to section 9.1 for more information on creating and editing member records.
3.2 Creating a New Search Report Record
- Choose the “Search Report” option from the “New” menu.
- For multi-team searches, select the search to link this report to from the displayed list by pressing the blue button in the corresponding row for the search. Use the “View” menu options to filter the displayed searches. If no matching search exists (i.e. this is the first report for a multi-team search) or for single team searches, select the “Search Report” option from the “New” menu to create a new search.
- If required, select the “Team Province”, “Team” and “Search Province”. The “Team Province” and “Team” fields will be non-editable for users with single team access.
- Complete the form.
- Add “Search Subjects” by pressing the “Edit” button which will bring up the “Search Subjects” editing window. Select the “Select” checkbox and complete the details for each subject. Press “Save” when done. To add more than five subjects, complete the first five and then repeat the editing process.
- Complete the “Attendance” section by enabling the “Select” checkbox, entering the “Hours” and selecting the “Position” for each attendee.
- Press “Save” to save the data and return to the main view.
Refer to section 9.2 for more information on creating and editing search report records.
3.3 Creating a New Training Class
- Choose the “Class” option from the “training” submenu under the “New” menu.
- Select the training module from the displayed list by pressing the blue button in the corresponding row for the module. Use the “View” menu options to filter the displayed training modules.
- For modules applicable to all teams, select the “Province” and “Team”. For single team modules, the “Province” and “Team” will be non-editable.
- Complete the “Class” section.
- Complete the “Students” section by enabling the “Select” checkbox, entering the “Grade” (and enabling the “Instructor” checkbox for instructors) for each attendee.
- Press “Save” to save the data and return to the main view.
Refer to section 9.3 for more information on creating and editing training records.
3.4 Creating a New Calendar Event
- Choose the “Event” option from the “New” menu.
- Complete the form. Choosing the “Province” will populate the “Team” list. For users with single team access, the “Province” and “Team” will not be editable.
- Press “Save” to save the data and return to the main view.
Refer to section 9.6 for more information on creating and editing calendar event records.
3.5 Editing an Existing Member
- Select the member’s “Team” from the “View” menu.
- Select the “Callout List” option from the “Members” submenu under the “View” menu. The list of members for the selected team will be displayed.
- Locate the member that you want to edit and press the blue button in the first (“+”) column for that row. If a grey or no button is displayed for that member, you do not have sufficient permissions to edit the record.
- Revise the member’s record as required.
- Press “Save” to save the updated member and return to the main view.
Refer to section 9.1 for more information on creating and editing member records.
3.6 Editing an Existing Search Report
- Select the “Team” from the “View” menu.
- Select the “Summary” option from the “Searches” submenu under the “View” menu. The list of searches for the selected team will be displayed.
- Locate the search report that you want to edit and press the blue button in the first (“+”) column for that row. If a grey or no button is displayed for that search report, you do not have sufficient permissions to edit the record.
- Revise the search report record as required.
- Press “Save” to save the updated search report and return to the main view.
Refer to section 9.2 for more information on creating and editing search report records.
3.7 Editing an Existing Training Class
- Select the “Team” from the “View” menu.
- Select the “Classes” option from the “Training” submenu under the “View” menu. The list of classes for the selected team will be displayed.
- Locate the class that you want to edit and press the blue button in the first (“+”) column for that row. If a grey or no button is displayed for that class, you do not have sufficient permissions to edit the record.
- Revise the class record as required.
- Press “Save” to save the updated class and return to the main view.
Refer to section 9.3 for more information on creating and editing training records.
3.8 Editing an Existing Calendar Event
- Select the “Team” from the “View” menu.
- Select the “Events” option from the “View” menu.
- Locate the event that you want to edit and press the blue button in the first (“+”) column for that row. If a grey or no button is displayed for that event, you do not have sufficient permissions to edit the record.
- Revise the event record as required.
- Press “Save” to save the updated event and return to the main view.
Refer to section 9.6 for more information on creating and editing calendar event records.
4 Getting Started
4.1 SSL
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a means of encrypting communications between the client and server. Encrypting information in this way reduces the chance that information can be intercepted and used by unauthorized third parties.
This site may use SSL to protect the sensitive data it contains. SSL is an option and may or may not be installed by the system administrator.
4.2 User Sessions
This application maintains your user session information from page to page. This is not a unique feature of this software; most web sites that require you to log in also maintain session information in this way. Online banking and shopping are examples of this.
One way the system can maintain session information is through a session cookie. This cookie is a simple unique string of letters and numbers (e.g. "3%253A3d6563b3%253Ac189415b22834532") that identifies a user to the system. If your browser does not support cookies, the system will use an alternate method to maintain session information. This entire process should be transparent to you unless you have selected to be alerted each time a web site tries to set a cookie. Regardless of whether you allow the cookie to be set or not, the system will be able to maintain your session information.
Note that because of the session data, none of the pages beyond the log in screen can be book marked within your web browser software.
4.3 Java Script
This application uses java script for several user interface elements. If user interface elements do not appear, you may need to update your browser software to a more recent version or enable java script in the browser software’s security options. This application has been confirmed to work with the following browsers:
§ Microsoft Internet Explorer, versions 4, 5 and 6 running on Microsoft Windows 98SE, Windows 2000 professional and Windows XP.
§ Netscape Communicator versions 4 and 5 running on Windows 98SE.
§ Opera 4 running on Windows 98SE.
4.4 Conventions
Elements of the user interface are easily customisable by the System Administrator for a specific implementation based on local requirements; as such, the exact wording for the user interface elements may vary from those described in this manual. The wording in this manual is based on the standard release.
Since the System Administrator defines the values for nearly all of the drop down list fields, the options within the fields are not included in this manual; they will vary from site to site.
The user interface is generated dynamically based on your access permissions. In order to simplify use, users with local level access will not be shown provincial/state or national interface elements. For this reason, not all user interface elements described in this manual will necessarily be available to you.
Where (language) is shown in this manual, this indicates that multiple languages may be displayed on the screen depending on the configured languages. The description for the language will actually appear on screen (e.g. French or English) instead of (language).
4.5 Pop-Up Calendar
In places in the application where dates are requested from
the user, a small pop-up calendar is available whenever the 
icon is displayed. You can
activate the calendar by clicking on the icon which will open a small window:
To use the calendar, adjust the month using the controls until the desired month is displayed and then click on the date to select it and return to the main form. You will see that the year, month and day are filled in on the form for you.
4.5.1 Controls
<< Decrease the year
< Decrease the month
Print Print the current calendar to your local printer
Today Reset the calendar to the current month.
> Increase the month
>> Increase the year
x Close the calendar without returning a date
Fix (Not used/non functional)
5 Logging In
A user account is required to access the system. If you have an account, you can log in to the system. If you do not have an account, you will need to request one from the System Administrator.
Once you are shown the log in screen, you are presented with a log in challenge asking you to enter your user ID and password. At this point, you can also switch languages, although you will also be able to do so at any time once inside the system. Enter your user ID and password and press the login button to authenticate and log in.
Figure 1. Log in screen
If you enter an invalid user ID or password, an error message is displayed. Five successive bad login attempts for the same user ID will result in the account being locked out for fifteen minutes. If this happens to you, wait 15 minutes and try again. This feature is intended to discourage password guessing, a technique commonly used by hackers to gain unauthorized access to protected sites.
This system supports account expiry dates; if your account has expired, you will be shown an error message when you attempt to log in. If you see this error message but still require access to the system, contact the System Administrator.
All attempts to log in to the system are logged, along with your computer’s network address which is recorded as a security measure. Please refer to the operator’s privacy policy before attempting to log in to the system.
5.1 Forgot Your Password?
If you have forgotten your password, you may be able to reset it yourself if:
- Your email address associated with your user account has not changed. If your email address has changed, the system will reset your password but the email will be sent to the email address in the database instead of your current email address. You will need to contact the System Administrator to manually reset your password and update your account with your new email address.
- Your account has not expired. If your account has expired, resetting your password will work but you will still not be able to log in and you will receive the “Your Account Has Expired” error message.
To reset your password:
- Select the “Forgot your password?” link on the log in page.
- On the “Reset Password” page, enter your user ID and press “Reset Password”. To abort and return to the log in screen, press “Cancel”.
- If your user ID exists, a new password will be generated and sent to the email address on file for that account. It may take a few moments for the “Password Reset” message and the “Log In” link to appear. If the user ID you entered does not exist, you will be shown the “You entered an invalid user ID” error message and a “Reset Password” link you can click on to try again.
- When you receive the email with your new password, you should be able to log in.
- Once you have logged in, you may want to change your password to something easier to remember by using the “Change Password” option under the “Main” menu.
6 Main View
The menu is your main interface with the application. Its appearance is task-specific; it reconfigures itself based on where you are within the application and your level of access for the type of information displayed.
The creation of new records is accomplished by selecting the appropriate option under the New menu.
The editing of existing records is performed by displaying the applicable report using the View menu options and selecting the record for editing from the displayed records.
7 Main Menu
The Main menu allows you to control aspects of your user session and profile.
7.1 Language
The application interface is capable of displaying the user interface in a number of configurable languages; the languages made available to you will depend on the specific implementation. At any time you can select the language link to switch to another language; this will cause all elements of the user interface to switch to the chosen language. Note that user-entered fields remain in the language in which they were entered and are not affected by the language selection.
7.2 Change Password
On this screen you are asked to first enter your new password, and then to re-enter it for confirmation. In each input box, the password must be entered exactly the same. If you forget your password, you must obtain a new one from the System Administrator.
Passwords are case sensitive and should follow strong password guidelines. Your password should be at least six characters in length, should not be a dictionary word or common name, and should contain numbers and upper and lower case letters. For example, mypassword1 is not as strong as mYpA88w0rd.
7.3 Administration (If authorized)
The menu option is only available to authorized users. It permits access to the administrative features of the application. These features are explained in detail in the Administrator’s manual.
7.4 Logout
You should log out before visiting other pages on the Internet so that no one can the access the system using your credentials. Note that simply accessing the login page will also destroy your session information and you will have to log in again.
8 New Menu
The New menu contains all of the functions that create new records.
8.1 New Member
The form is divided into two parts: "Personal Information" and "Certifications". The certifications section may or may not be displayed depending on your level of access. All fields are optional except for Directors and team Administrators for whom required fields are denoted by 1. Some fields are provided exclusively for use in administering your team.
Please refer to your local policies for the fields which should be completed.
The menu options on this form include:
§ Main: Return to Main View, Language, Logout
8.1.1 Personal Information
Personal information fields are shown in the top section of the form. The available fields are described below.
§ First name – Member’s first name.
§ Middle Name – Member’s middle name or initial.
§ Last Name – Member’s last name/surname.
§ Common Name - An informal name or nickname the member normally uses.
§ Street – Mailing address street.
§ City – Mailing address city.
§ Province/State – Mailing address province/state.
§ Postal/Zip Code – Mailing address postal/zip code.
§ Member ID – Your organization may use a unique membership or other identifier for each member; if so, enter it here.
§ Health - Any health conditions that the member would like noted.
§ Date Applied - Date on which the member applied for team membership.
§ Date Approved - Date on which the member was approved for team membership.
§ Date Joined - Date on which the member because a team member.
§ Date Expires - Date on which the member’s team membership expires.
§ Title – Member’s official team title (e.g. President, Secretary, etc.), if applicable.
§ Next of Kin - Name of the member’s next of kin.
§ Occupation - Generic category of occupation (e.g. office worker, banker, woodsman, etc.).
§ Date of Birth – The member’s date of birth.
§ Association Director/Association Alternate - These two checkboxes enable you to designate a member as an officially designated Director or Alternate for your team. Choose only one (A person cannot be both a Director and an Alternate). These control who appears in the Directors and Alternates reports in the main application screen.
§ Emergency Contact – Enabling this checkbox causes the member to be displayed in the emergency contacts report. This box should only be enabled for identified team emergency contacts; these members would be considered the primary point of contact for the team for emergency activation by police agencies and/or other responsible authorities.
§ Team Administrator – Enabling this checkbox causes the member to show up in the Administrators report. This would normally be enabled for the team’s executive officers depending on local reporting requirements.
§ Notes - a free-form field to record any notes about this contact.
§ Team Province/State – May or may not be selectable depending on your level of access. The province/state selected determines the teams offered for selection.
§ Team - May or may not be selectable depending on your level of access. This is used to select the team(s) to which a member belongs. A member should belong to at least one team, but can belong to more than one. To select more than one, hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard while selecting teams from the list by clicking the left mouse button.
§ Display Priority - Used to control the position of the member in reports. Can be set to either "high", "normal" or "low". A member with a display priority of "high" will be displayed in reports above a contact with a priority of "normal". The default is "normal".
§ Phone: Home
§ Phone: Work
§ Phone: Pager
§ Phone: Cell
§ Phone: Fax
§ Phone : Other
§ Email – The member’s internet email address.
8.1.2 Certifications
Important: Please check your local policies for certification requirements.
Certifications are shown in the second section of the form. Depending on your level of access, you may not see the section at all, or may not see the "Add Certification" subsection.
Certifications currently assigned to this member are shown at the top of the section. A member can have multiple certifications assigned to him/her. Multiple certifications for the same certification type are permitted.
Existing records can be edited or deleted by users with proper access.
New certifications can be assigned to a member in the "Add Certification" subsection. The following fields are available only to users with edit level or higher access.
§ Certification - A dropdown list with the types of certifications available.
§ Agency - A dropdown list containing agencies. Select the agency issuing the certification.
§ Test - The date of the test for this certification.
§ Search 1/2 - The dates of up to two searches and a checkbox for each to indicate whether this was a mock search or actual operation.
Due to the fact that certifications may be approved by another user depending on the scope of the certification (national, provincial/state, team), the following additional fields are displayed only for users with specific access.
§ Certified - The date the member received official certified status for this certification.
§ Expires - The date that official certified status expires for this certification.
Note: When a member is re-certified, the change should only be made to the expiry date. Therefore, for a Search Manager being re-certified in May, only the expiry date should be extended; the date certified should remain the same unless a new certification has also been obtained. A new certification date should be entered only when the certification expires and is then reinstated through re-certification.
8.1.3 Displayed Certifications
Assigned certifications for the member are displayed above the add certification subsection in section 2. The currently assigned certifications, if any, are displayed in a table containing an edit link (“E”), a delete link (“X”), certification type, expiry date, certifying agency, test date, search 1 date, search 1 mock Y/N, search 2 date, search 2 mock Y/N. The edit and delete links may or may not be shown depending on your level of access.
Selecting Edit ("E") will bring up a separate screen where details can be edited. Selecting Delete ("X") will cause the certification to be deleted immediately. Once a certification has been deleted, the action cannot be cancelled, but the certification may be re-entered if required.
8.1.4 Add Certification
§ Certification – The name of the certification to be added. If the certification you need to add isn’t displayed, you need to save or cancel the edit, add a new certification type and re-edit the member record to add the certification record. If you need a certification level added not within your access permissions to create, you will need to request that the System Administrator add it for you.
§ Certified – May or may not be shown depending on your level of access. The effective date of the certification.
§ Expires – May or may not be shown depending on your level of access. The date on which the certification will expire. This date defaults to the default expiry period for the certification type and changes when the “Certified” date changes. The field can also be modified manually.
§ Agency – The agency providing the certification, if applicable.
§ Test – Date of the exam for this certification. No place is provided to record the mark; a passing grade is assumed by virtue of the certification record being added for the member.
§ Search 1, Mock? – Date of the first search, if required for this certification type. The “mock” checkbox is provided to distinguish between actual and mock searches.
§ Search 2, Mock? – Date of the second search, if required for this certification type. The “mock” checkbox is provided to distinguish between actual and mock searches.
§ Last edited by User/Date/Time – Shows the user who last edited the record, as well as the date and time. This text is not displayed for new records.
§ Add – Add the certification and updates the form. The newly added certification is shown in the certifications table in section 2.
§ (2) indicates required field for Search Manager Certification only – A note stating that fields flagged with a superscript (2) are required for all Search Manager certifications.
8.1.5 Edit Certification
To edit a certification, press the “E” link in the row for the record you wish to edit. The display will change to show the certification record information in (mostly) editable fields.
§ Certification – This cannot be changed. If you need to change the certification, delete the certification record and add a new one.
§ Certified – May or may not be shown depending on your level of access. The effective date of the certification.
§ Expires – May or may not be shown depending on your level of access. The date on which the certification will expire. This date defaults to the default expiry period for the certification type and changes when the “Certified” date changes. The field can also be modified manually.
§ Agency – The agency providing the certification, if applicable.
§ Test – Date of the exam for this certification. No place is provided to record the mark; a passing grade is assumed by virtue of the certification record being added for the member.
§ Search 1, Mock? – Date of the first search, if required for this certification type. The “mock” checkbox is provided to distinguish between actual and mock searches.
§ Search 2, Mock? – Date of the second search, if required for this certification type. The “mock” checkbox is provided to distinguish between actual and mock searches.
§ Save – Saves the updated certification record and returns to the member edit form.
§ Delete – Deletes the certification and returns to the member edit form. May or may not be present depending on your access level. Displayed only when editing existing records.
§ Reset – Restores all edited fields to the saved values.
§ Cancel – Aborts the edit and returns to the member edit form.
§ Last edited by User/Date/Time – Shows the user who last edited the record as well as the date and time of the last edit. This text is not displayed for new records.
8.1.6 Action Buttons
At the bottom of the edit certification form, a number of buttons and a line of text are displayed:
§ Save – Saves the updated certification record and returns to the main view.
§ Delete –Deletes the record and returns to the main view. May or may not be shown depending on your level of access. This text is not displayed for new records.
§ Reset – Restores all edited fields to the saved values.
§ Cancel – Aborts the edit and returns to the main view.
§ Last edited by User/Date/Time – Shows the user who last edited the record as well as the date and time of the last edit. This text is not displayed for new records.
8.2 New Search Report
A multi-team search is a search operation where more than one team participated. For multi-team searches, each team files its own search report. The first team to file the report creates a new search report record; for the additional teams, each files a team report which includes a subset of the data from the first team's full report as well as fields which are unique to the individual team's filing.
When you choose to create a new search report, the first form you are shown allows you to link this report to an existing search (for a multi-team search) or to create an entirely new search report.
If you are entering a record for a multi-team search, review the existing search report records to determine if a record exists for the search operation. If a record does not exist, create a new one. You can perform the review of existing records after selecting new search report from the main menu.
Step 1: Choose “Search Report’ from the “New” submenu.
Step 2: Linking for multi-team search, if applicable
- If this is a report for a single team search, when the "Mutli-Team Search?" screen is displayed, choose "New", "New Search Report" from the "New" menu and skip to Step 3.
- Select the existing parent search report from the displayed list.
· Use the View menu controls (period, province(state)/team) to filter the records displayed.
· Use the paging controls ("Showing records 1 to 20 of 75 total. Page 1 2 3 4") by clicking on the underlined numbers to switch between pages of records.
· Use the search control to search for specific search reports based on criteria you specify (weather, manager, subject, activity, location, environment, reason).
- If there is no existing record, choose "New Search Report" from the "New" menu.
Step 3: Categorization
- Depending on your level of access, there are several possibilities:
· If you have access to more than province/state or team, you will be shown a screen that allows you to specify the team province/state, the team and the search province/state. Select the values from the fields in the order they appear on the form. Selecting the “Search Province/State” will complete the selection and submit the form.
· If you have access to more than one team in a single province/state, you will be asked to specify the team and search province/state only; the team province/state will be displayed but will be non-editable. Select the values from the fields in the order they appear on the form. Selecting the “Search Province/State” will complete the selection and submit the form.
· If you have access to only one team, you will be shown the search report editing screen with the team and search province/state filled in.
- The search report editing screen is displayed. You may now add the search report details. If this is an additional record for a multi-team search, many of the fields will be filled in for you.
8.2.1 New Search Report
Important: Please check you local agency’s policies for reporting requirements.
The Search Report form is divided into four sections: Search Details, Search Subjects, Attendance and the action buttons.
The menu options on this form include:
§ Main: Return to Main View, Language, Logout
§ View: Display Print Version (Available only when editing or displaying existing records)
8.2.2 Search Details
§ Team (Non-editable) - The team to which this report pertains.
§ GSAR File ID (Non-editable) – This is a system assigned unique file number for the search report record and is non-editable. The first part of the ID indicates the main search number while the second part identifies the team report number (used to distinguish multi-team search reports).
§ Status (Complete/Incomplete) – Indicates whether all of the required fields (denoted by (1))have been completed for this search record. This status is updated when the record is saved.
§ Police File ID - The Police file number. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Incident Commander(1) - Full name of the Incident Commander. The IC will almost always be a member of the requesting agency, usually a police officer. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Agency(1) - Requesting agency. Choose one from the dropdown list. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ I/C Phone - Office phone number of the Incident Commander. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Search Province/State(1) (Non-Editable) – The province/state in which the search took place. If the search occurred in more than one province/state (as could occur on a border), pick the primary province/state.
§ Location- Enter the name of the municipality or area nearest to where the search took place.
§ Point Last Seen(1) (LAT/N) (Decimal degrees NAD 83 datum) – Latitude of the point last seen in decimal degrees, NAD 83 datum (for the stock Canadian data set only – other data sets may use a different datum). This is used to accurately record the exact location of the point and is also used to identify the search on the map display (if installed). For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Point Last Seen(1) (LONG/W) (Decimal degrees NAD 83 datum) - Longitude of the point last seen in decimal degrees, NAD 83 datum (for the stock Canadian data set only – other data sets may use a different datum). This is used to accurately record the exact location of the point and is also used to identify the search on the map display (if installed). For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Distance from PLS (meters) – Distance from the point last seen (PLS) in meters. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
The following fields are date and time related. Enter only those which are applicable to the operation. All dates default to the current date. There is a calendar button to the right of the "Date/Time Alerted" field which when pressed will initiate a pop-up calendar.
§ Date/Time Alerted(1) (date, Time(24h), Calendar) – The date and time (in 24 hour format) that the team received the initial call from the requesting agency. Choosing an alerted date on the calendar will cause all of the operation date fields to be set to this date.
§ Date/Time Activated (date, Time(24h), Calendar) – The date and time that the team was activated by the requesting agency. The time that the team was alerted may not necessarily be the same as when the team was activated if the alert resulted in the team being placed on standby for possible activation at a later time.
§ Date/Time Arrived (date, Time(24h), Calendar) – The date and time that the team first arrived at the search operation site. Combined with the activation times, this can be used to establish the response time for the team.
§ Date/Time Began (date, Time(24h), Calendar) – The date and time that search operations commenced, usually when the first operational task began. This is used to establish the start time for the search phase of the operation. Planning time is not used for this purpose as it is assumed planning begins the moment the team arrives on scene and continues until the operation concludes.
§ Date/Time Found (date, Time(24h), Calendar) – The date and time that the subject was located by the searchers. Not all searches will result in the subject being found.
§ Date/Time Subject Released (date, Time(24h), Calendar) – The date and time that the search subject was released from the search scene following debrief (if any). This could also include the time that a deceased subject was turned over to the coroner. The purpose of this field is to determine how long it took from the time the subject was located to the time when they were returned. When combined with the distance and terrain features, this could be used to estimate the team’s efficiency in stabilizing and extracting the subject.
§ Date/Time Concluded(1) (date, Time(24h), Calendar) – The date and time that the search team completed demobilization and left the search scene.
§ Date/Time Returned to Base (date, Time(24h), Calendar) – The date and time that the search team reached it’s base. Combined with the activation date/time, this establishes the overall time taken for the search mission. Combined with the Date/Time Concluded, this can be used to establish the travel time to base.
§ Total Cost - Enter the total costs for the team filing this report only.
§ Environment – Used to record environmental characteristics of the search area. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Type of Operation(1) (Descriptions) – Select the type of search operation. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Description(1) - Enter a full descriptive narrative of the search operation for the team filing this report.
§ Activity - This is the subject category. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Reason 1(1) – The primary reason for the search. All search reports require at least one reason. Two "Reason" fields are provided to permit for choosing primary and secondary reasons where applicable. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Reason 2 – Used to record a secondary reason for the search. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Weather Was a Factor (Checkbox) - If weather was a direct contributing factor in causing the person to become lost, select this checkbox. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Weather - Initial weather conditions at the time of the team’s arrival on site. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Total Members - Total number of members on this team responding to the search event. Include all operational periods.
§ Total Hours - Enter total person-hours for the entire search for this team only.
§ Debrief Location – The city or town at which the official debrief will or did occur. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Debrief Date (Calendar) - The date the official debrief will or did occur. This will be either the team debrief for small searches, or a full-scale multiple-agency debrief. There is a calendar button to the right of the "Date/Time Alerted" field which when pressed will initiate a pop-up calendar. Choosing a date on the calendar will cause the "Debrief Date" field to be set to that date. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Tactics Used – Used to record the search tactics used by all teams on this search. Multiple selections are permitted. To choose multiple selections, hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard while selecting from the list by clicking the left mouse button. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
§ Resources Used – Use this field to record the types of resources used by all teams at the search. Multiple selections are permitted. To choose multiple selections, hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard while selecting from the list by clicking the left mouse button. For multi-team search reports, this is a common field shared between all reports for a given search; changing the field changes it for all related reports.
8.2.3 Search Subjects
Search subjects are the lost persons for whom the search operation was launched. This may be one or more people.
For multi-team search reports, the search subject fields are shared between all reports for a given search; changing the fields changes them for all related reports.
The currently defined search subjects appear in a non-editable text field in the Subjects section of the search report editing form. The following is a list of the column headings along with a short description:
§ Name – The full name of the subject.
§ Age – The age of the subject in years.
§ M/F – Select “M” if the subject is male, “F” if the subject is female.
§ Experience – The experience level of the subject for the activity he/she was engaged in.
§ Equipment – The level to which the subject was equipped for the activity he/she was engaged in.
§ Outcome – The result of the search operation for this particular subject.
§ Condition – The subject’s medical/physical condition when found.
§ Training – The level of the subject’s training for the activity he/she was engaged in.
§ Edit – Pressing this button causes the subject editing window to appear:
These are the fields displayed on the subject edit form:
§ Select – Enabling this checkbox will cause the subject row to be included in the record when you press Save; disabling this checkbox will cause the subject row to be deleted when you press Save.
§ Name – The full name of the subject.
§ Age – The age of the subject in years.
§ M/F – Select “M” if the subject is male, “F” if the subject is female.
§ Experience – The experience level of the subject for the activity he/she was engaged in.
§ Equipment – The level to which the subject was equipped for the activity he/she was engaged in.
§ Outcome – The result of the search operation for this particular subject.
§ Condition – The subject’s medical/physical condition when found.
§ Training – The level of the subject’s training for the activity he/she was engaged in.
When the subject edit window is displayed, five new records are displayed below the existing records. If you need to add more than five subjects, add the first five, save and then re-edit the subjects; five new records will appear below the existing records. Repeat the process until all of the subjects have been added.
To add a subject, check the select box and complete the details for that row. Repeat until all of the subjects have been entered and then press Save. To delete a subject, disable the Select checkbox for the corresponding row and then press save. Any number of additions and deletions can be performed in a single operation in any combination.
When you press Save, the subject editing window closes and the subject text field on the search report editing form is updated.
To abort the edit and return to the search edit form, press Cancel.
8.2.4 Attendance
The list of possible attendees is based on the province/state and team selected for the search report record. When the search report is categorized by selecting the team, the application populates the search report attendee section with the members from that team. When editing an existing record, the saved attendee data is shown.
The following are descriptions of the attendance table elements:
§ Select – Enabling this checkbox will cause the attendee row to be included in the record when you press Save; disabling this checkbox will cause the attendee row to be deleted when you press Save.
§ Full Name – This is the non-editable name of the attendee.
§ Hours – The hours which the attendee contributed.
§ Position – The primary operational position that the attendee held during the search operation.
§ (1) Required Field – A reminder note indicating that fields flagged by (1) denote a required field.
8.2.5 Action Buttons
At the bottom of the search edit form are several buttons and a line of text:
§ Save – Saves the record and returns to the main view.
§ Delete – Deletes the record and returns to the main view. May or may not be present depending on your access level. This text is not displayed for new records.
§ Reset – Restores all edited fields to the saved values.
§ Cancel – Aborts the edit and returns to the main view.
§ Last edited by User/Date/Time – Shows the user who last edited the record as well as the date and time of the last edit. This text is not displayed for new records.
8.3 Training (Course/Class)
The training module allows you to manage training records for your team.
Courses and modules are structural elements that define training programs; classes are the actual events at which the training is delivered. The course and module(s) must be defined before you can add a class record. Courses can contain multiple modules. Classes are based on modules; a module is delivered through a class and only one module is delivered at each class.
Example:
Course: Basic Search Management
Module 1: Introduction to search management
Module 2: Search planning
Class: 2003-06-01, “Introduction to search management”, held at town hall, 5 students, 3 hours long
Class: 2003-07-01, “Introduction to search management”, held at police station, 2 students, 3 hours long
Class: 2003-06-01, “Search planning”, held at town hall, 5 students, 6 hours long
To set up a new training program without using pre-defined courses and modules:
1) Create a new course by choosing “Course” from the New/Training submenu.
2) Create the new modules for the course by adding them within the course edit form. You must add at least one module to each course.
3) Ensure that all “students” are entered as members within the database system.
4) Create the new class record by choosing “Class” from the New/Training submenu.
8.4 New Course
This form allows you to create a course including it’s modules. The form is divided into three sections: Course, Modules and the action buttons.
The menu options on this form include:
§ Main: Return to Main View, Language, Logout
8.4.1 Course
§ Province/state – The province/state to which the course applies. This field may or may not be editable depending on your access permissions.
§ Team - This field may or may not be editable depending on your access permissions.
§ Title (language) – The short title for the course. More than one may be listed based on installed languages.
§ Certification (Optional) – Some courses may be a requirement towards certification. This field allows you to link the course to a certification level which may be useful for reporting.
8.4.2 Displayed Modules
Assigned modules for the course are displayed above the add module subsection in section 2. The currently assigned modules, if any, are displayed in a table containing an edit link (“E”), a delete link (“X”), module type, title(s) and pass mark percentage. The edit and delete links may or may not be shown depending on your level of access.
8.4.3 Editing Modules
If modules are displayed, pressing the “E” link on a module row will open that module for editing.
The menu options on this form include:
§ Main: Return to Main View, Language, Logout
§ View: Display Print Version
The fields on this form include:
§ Title (language) – The title of the module. More than one may be listed based on installed languages.
§ Type (Practical, Theoretical, Test, Mixed) – The type of module. For example: practical, theoretical, test or mixed.
§ Pass Mark (Test %) – The pass mark required for this module. Students must meet or exceed this mark in order to successfully complete it.
The action buttons and information line on this form include:
§ Save – Saves the record and returns to the main view.
§ Delete – Deletes the record and returns to the edit course form. May or may not be present depending on your access level. Displayed only when editing existing records.
§ Reset – Restores all edited fields to the saved values.
§ Cancel – Aborts the edit and returns to the edit course form.
§ Last edited by User/Date/Time – Shows the user who last edited the record as well as the date and time of the last edit. This text is not displayed for new records.
8.4.4 Adding Modules
To add a new module, complete the fields and press the Add button. The module fields on the form are as follows:
§ Title (language) – The title of the module. More than one may be listed based on installed languages.
§ Type (Practical, Theoretical, Test, Mixed) – The type of module. For example: practical, theoretical, text or mixed.
§ Pass Mark (Test %) – The pass mark required for this module. Students must exceed this mark in order to successfully complete it.
8.4.5 Module Action Buttons
§ Add – Press this button to add a new module after having completed the required fields. The screen will refresh and the updated module information will be displayed.
8.4.6 Course Action Buttons
§ Save – Saves the record and returns to the main view.
§ Delete – Deletes the record and returns to the main view. May or may not be present depending on your access level. Displayed only when editing existing records.
§ Reset – Restores all edited fields to the saved values.
§ Cancel – Aborts the edit and returns to the main view.
§ Last edited by User/Date/Time – Shows the user who last edited the record as well as the date and time of the last edit. This text is not displayed for new records.
8.5 New Class
When creating a new class record, a module selection page is displayed. This page is used to identify the module which was delivered at the class. If you delivered multiple modules in a single session, enter them as multiple classes.
The menu options on this form include:
§ Main: Return to Main View, Language, Logout
§ View: Display Print Version
Selecting the module from the displayed list:
§ Use the View menu controls (province/state, team, period) to filter the records displayed.
§ Use the paging controls ("Showing records 1 to 20 of 75 total. Page 1 2 3 4") by clicking on the underlined numbers to switch between pages of records.
§ Use the search control to search for specific modules based on criteria you specify (team, province/state, course or module).
§ Select the module by pressing the blue selection button for that row.
Depending on the province/state and team defined for the selected module, you may now be asked to specify the province/state and/or team before proceeding to the edit class form. This is done in order to establish the possible student list.
For all but single team courses, the following fields will need to be completed before proceeding to the full class editing form:
§ Course (Non-editable)
§ Module (Non-editable)
§ Province/State – Only editable for courses with a province/state type of “All”.
§ Team – Only editable for courses with a province/state or team type of “All”; otherwise, non-editable.
Once the province/state and team have been selected, the remainder of the class editing form will be displayed.
§ Location – Location where the class was held, typically a municipality, street address or building.
§ Start Time (YYYY, MM, DD; hh:mm(24 hr); calendar button)
§ End Time (YYYY, MM, DD; hh:mm(24 hr); calendar button)
8.5.1 Students
The “Students” section can contain both students and instructors.
It is not possible to add students or instructors who are not recorded as members in the database. The application is designed to record training related to members only.
The student selection section will vary depending on the province/state and team fields. There are two methods for student selection: check list and query based. These two methods are described in the following sub sections.
8.5.1.1 Check List Based Student Selection: Single Team Classes
List based student selection presents a table containing all possible students based on the team selection.
§ Select - To tag a member for addition to the students, enable the corresponding Select checkbox, enter the grade and enable the Instructor checkbox if applicable. To tag a member for deletion from the students, disable the Select checkbox. When the class record is saved, the additions and deletions will be recorded.
§ Full Name – The member’s full name. This field is non-editable.
§ Grade – The student’s grade expressed as a percentage. This field is not normally used for instructors.
§ Instructor - Indicates whether the member was an instructor – Checked for instructors, unchecked for students.
8.5.1.2 Query Based Student Selection: Multiple Team Classes
Query based student selection displays the currently selected students in a non-editable text field. You add, edit or delete students using the controls below the text box.
The columns displayed in the text field include:
§ Full Name – The student’s full name
§ Team – The student’s team name. Note that if the student belongs to more than one team, only one will be displayed.
§ I – Indicates whether the “student” was an instructor – Y for yes, N for no.
§ Grade – The student’s grade expressed as a percentage. This field is not normally used for instructors.
The controls below the text field include:
§ Edit – This button will bring up a separate window containing the currently selected students for editing. This window is described in the following section.
§ Add – Enter the text to query for. It is not necessary to enter a member or team’s full name; a partial name will do. Enter enough text to narrow the results to a manageable list; do not leave this field empty when using the Search button.
§ Category (students/teams) – Permits you to specify that the search criteria be compared against either member names or team names. When using the Search button, choose one or the other as this is a required field for searching.
§ Search – This button queries the database based on the values of the Add and Category fields and displays matching records in a separate student selection window. This window is described in the following section.
8.5.1.3 Query Based Student Selection: Adding, Deleting and Editing Students
The add/edit students form appears in a separate window when either the Edit or Search buttons on the edit class form is pressed.
§ Select - To tag a member for addition to the students, enable the corresponding Select checkbox, enter the grade and enable the Instructor checkbox if applicable. To tag a member for deletion from the students, disable the Select checkbox. When the Save button is pressed, the changes, additions and deletions will be updated on the edit class form.
§ Team – The member’s team name. Note that if the student belongs to more than one team, only one will be displayed.
§ Full Name – The member’s full name.
§ Grade – The student’s grade expressed as a percentage. This field is not normally used for instructors.
§ Instructor - Indicates whether the member was an instructor – Checked for instructors, unchecked for students.
§ Save – Pressing this button closes the window and updates the student text field on the edit class form.
§ Cancel – Pressing this button closes the window without updating the student text field on the edit class form.
8.5.2 Action Buttons
§ Save – Saves the record and returns to the main view.
§ Delete – Deletes the record and returns to the main view. May or may not be present depending on your access level. This text is not displayed for new records.
§ Reset – Restores all edited fields to the saved values.
§ Cancel – Aborts the edit and returns to the main view.
§ Last edited by User/Date/Time – Shows the user who last edited the record as well as the date and time of the last edit. This text is not displayed for new records.
8.6 Event
Events are elements of the event calendar report. Events can be used to establish training, meeting or other calendars which can be viewed by other users or published for members or the public. Event calendars may also be useful for satisfying reporting requirements.
The menu options on this form include:
§ Main: Return to Main View, Language, Logout
§ View: Display Print Version
The fields on the form are:
§ Date – The date of the event.
§ Description – A detailed description of the event. This field can contain html tags for formatting.
§ Province/State – The province/state in which the event will take place. This field may or may not be editable depending on your access permissions.
§ Team – The team to which the event applies. This field may or may not be editable depending on your access permissions.
§ Category – A categorization for this event. This is used to filter the calendar report to display specific records. These values are defined by the System Administrator. For example: training, meeting, holiday, etc.
§ Location – The location for the event, typically a street address and/or municipality.
8.6.1 Action Buttons
§ Save – Saves the record and returns to the main view.
§ Delete – Deletes the record and returns to the main view. May or may not be present depending on your access level. This text is not displayed for new records.
§ Reset – Restores all edited fields to the saved values.
§ Cancel – Aborts the edit and returns to the main view.
§ Last edited by User/Date/Time – Shows the user who last edited the record as well as the date and time of the last edit. This text is not displayed for new records.
8.7 Certification Level
Certification levels are used to populate the certification type field in the member edit form. Use this function to define or edit the generic certification types that can be applied to members. Certifications can exist at national, provincial/state and local levels. Users with access at each level can establish certifications for that level and the lower levels. The flexibility of this type of system permits local teams to add their own certification types for their own requirements while permitting use of national or provincial/state certifications as appropriate.
§ Province/State (may or may not be editable) – The province/state to which the certification applies. To have the certification level apply nationally, select “All” (available to users with national access). This field may or may not be editable based on your permissions.
§ Team (may or may not be editable) – The team to which the certification applies. To have the certification level apply provincially/state-wide, select “All” (available to users with provincial/state access). This field may or may not be editable based on your permissions.
§ (language) Type – An easily recognizable short name for the certification level. More than one may be listed based on installed languages.
§ (language) Description – Text describing the certification. This is used to build the description window displayed when you click on “Description” link next to a field on the member edit form. Since a team defined certification level may be similar to provincial/state or national levels, it is important to include enough detail to describe what the certification is used for. More than one may be listed based on installed languages.
§ Expires (days) – The default length of the certification in days. Many certifications have an expiry date which will typically be one or two years from the date of certification. Completing this field will set a default expiry date in the member edit form based on the certification selected.
§ Certifying User – When enabled (checked) this checkbox specifies that a user editing member certification requires certifying user permissions in order to grant certifications (date certified and expiry date) for this certification level.
8.7.1 Action Buttons
§ Save – Saves the record and returns to the main view.
§ Delete – Deletes the record and returns to the main view. May or may not be present depending on your access level. This text is not displayed for new records.
§ Reset – Restores all edited fields to the saved values.
§ Cancel – Aborts the edit and returns to the main view.
§ Last edited by User/Date/Time – Shows the user who last edited the record as well as the date and time of the last edit. This text is not displayed for new records.
8.8 Team
A team is a group or unit within the ground search and rescue system; it is not necessarily restricted to operational teams and may include police, government or other agencies which are involved in search and rescue and for which it is advantageous to maintain records within the database system. Only an administrator level user may add a new team or delete a team. Any user with edit level access for a given team may edit a team’s record.
When an administrator deletes a team record, the system prompts the user to see if the team’s members should also be deleted. The user is also given the chance to cancel the deletion and return to the edit team form. Deleting a team will cause team fields for any search report or training records to be blank.
Main: Return to Main View, Language, Logout
8.8.1 General Information
§ Name – The official name of the team.
§ Street – The street for the team’s mailing address.
§ City – The city for the team’s mailing address.
§ Province/State – The province/state for the team’s mailing address. This field also defines which province/state the team will be associated within the editable forms and so it is very important.
§ Postal/Zip Code – The team’s postal/zip code.
§ Date Established – The date that the team was established. This information is used for public reports.
§ Description – A text description of the team. You may include any relevant information that would be of interest to the public (meeting times, history, etc). This field is used for public reports and it may contain html tags if desired.
§ Operational – Enabling this checkbox causes the team to be included in the emergency contacts report. Use this checkbox to distinguish between teams which are directly providing search and rescue services and teams (agencies, groups) which do not directly provide search and rescue services and which should be suppressed in the emergency contacts report.
§ Phone: 1
§ Phone: 2
§ Phone: Pager
§ Phone: Cell
§ Phone: Fax
§ Email – The team’s internet email address.
8.8.2 Action Buttons
§ Save – Saves the record and returns to the main view.
§ Delete – Deletes the record and returns to the main view. May or may not be present depending on your access level. This text is not displayed for new records.
§ Reset – Restores all edited fields to the saved values.
§ Cancel – Aborts the edit and returns to the main view.
§ Last edited by User/Date/Time – Shows the user who last edited the record as well as the date and time of the last edit. This text is not displayed for new records.
9 View Menu
The view menu allows you to control the display of existing records. A variety of report options are provided to permit you to display data in a wide variety of formats and to specify selection criteria to filter the records used to produce the reports. Most of the reports provide a means of selecting individual existing records for detailed display or editing.
9.1 Viewing Reports
1. Select the report you want to view from the View menu's options. For example, to view teams, select the View menu and then the Teams report. This will display the team summary report:
2. Set the team to view by choosing View then Team and selecting the appropriate province/state and team from the menus.
9.2 Editing Existing Records
1. Display the relevant report. For example, to edit teams, first display the teams report. The types of reports available are described in later sections.
2.
From the "+" column, select the blue button 
; this will take you to
the edit screen for that record. If you see a grey button 
you
only have read access for that record and selecting this icon will take you to
the display screen for that record. If you see no button at all then you have
no further access for that record.
The edit screens are essentially the same as the new record screens with the exception that the record's information is read and displayed in the appropriate field for editing. Otherwise, the controls and functions are identical with the following exceptions:
§ Delete – The delete button removes the current record from the database. The button is shown only if you have delete access for the record.
§ The “Display Print Version” in the View menu will display a printable version of the currently displayed report. This menu option is available when editing most record types.
9.3 Filters
The view menu is grouped into colour-coded sections based on functionality. The topmost section contains menu options that affect the display filter. The filter is applied against the report to limit the records displayed. The filters can help you isolate data based on criteria that you select. The filter is persistent; it stays set, even when switching between pages, until you change it manually.
The current filter is always displayed at the top of the report. Upon log in the filter is set to teams=none and period=all. Before you can view a report, you must select the team filter by choosing the team from the view menu. Choosing the team menu item causes a multi-level submenu to appear. The options in the submenus may vary depending on your level of access. At the top of each submenu is the “All” option which, if selected, sets the team filter to display all records for that level. In larger systems the use of the “All” option is discouraged since it can result in long query times and very large reports.
9.3.1 Period Filter
The period filter only affects the following types of reports: Events, Searches (all reports) and Training (all reports); for other types of reports, this filter has no effect.
§ All – selects all records regardless of their date.
§ Last Year – selects records dated for the last calendar year.
§ Last 3 Months – selects records dated for the past 90 days.
§ Last Month – selects records dated for the past 30 days.
§ Current Year – selects records dated for the current calendar year.
§ Next Month – selects records dated for the next 30 days. This is only useful for the events report.
§ Next 3 Months – selects records dated for the next 90 days. This is only useful for the events report.
9.4 Certifications
§ By Level - Displays member certifications grouped by certification level.
§ By Status - Displays member certifications grouped by certification status (certified, expired and not certified).
§ By Team - Displays member certifications grouped by team.
§ Search Managers - Displays member search manager certifications grouped by team.
§ Levels – Displays certification levels for the selected team(s) sorted by province/state then by team.
9.5 Events
This report displays a listing of events sorted by date for the currently selected team(s) and period. The report columns include the edit/display button, team name, event category, location and description.
9.6 Members
§ Administrators - Displays contact records in which the "Team Administrator" checkbox is checked. There is a separate section for each team, team information at the top of each report section. The columns in this report include: the display/edit link, full name, title, phone: work, phone: home, phone: cell, phone: pager, phone: other, email. This report is sorted by display priority then by full name.
§ Board Directors - Displays contact records in which the "Director" checkbox is checked. There is a separate section for each team, with team information being displayed at the top of each report section. The columns in this report include: the display/edit link, full name, title, phone: work, phone: home, phone: cell, phone: pager, phone: other, email. This report is sorted by display priority then by full name.
§ Board Alternates - Displays contact records in which the "Alternate" checkbox is checked. There is a separate section for each team, team information at the top of each report section. The columns in this report include: the display/edit link, full name, title, phone: work, phone: home, phone: cell, phone: pager, phone: other, email. This report is sorted by display priority then by full name.
§ Callout List - Displays contact records in a callout list format. There is a separate section for each team, with team information being displayed at the top of each report section. The columns in this report include: the display/edit link, full name, title, phone: work, phone: home, phone: cell, phone: pager, phone: other, email. This report is sorted by display priority then by full name.
§ Mailing List - Displays contact records in a mailing list format. There is a separate section for each team, with team information displayed at the top of each report section. The columns in this report include: the display/edit link, full name, title, address. This report is sorted by display priority then by full name.
§ Emergency Contacts - Displays contact records in which the "Emergency Contact" checkbox is checked. There is a separate section for each team, with team information being displayed at the top of each report section. The columns in this report include: the display/edit link, full name, title, phone: work, phone: home, phone: cell, phone: pager, phone: other, email. This report is sorted by display priority then by full name.
9.7 Searches
§ Summary – Displays a list of searches for the selected team and period. The columns in this report include: edit link, date, file ID, team, type, activity, total hours. This report is sorted by date.
§ Map – Displays a graphical map overlaid with search data for the selected province/state, team and period. Refer to the map controls section for detailed instructions on how to use this report. This option may or may not be available depending on system configuration
§ Attendance - Displays a list of members for the selected team(s) and period and lists the searches they have attended. Separate report for each member matching the selected team and period. The columns in this report include: edit link, start date, end date, file ID, location, position, hours. This report is sorted by start date.
§ Statistical Summary - Displays a statistical summary report for the selected team(s) and period.
9.8 Teams
This report displays a list of teams sorted by team name. The report columns displayed include: the display/edit button, team name, date established, address, phone: 1, phone: 2, phone: cell, phone: pager, phone: fax and email address.
9.9 Training
§ Courses – Displays a list of courses for the selected team(s) sorted by province/state then by team. The report columns displayed include the display/edit button, province/state, team name, course and certification.
§ Modules – Displays a list of modules for the selected team(s) sorted by team name. The report columns displayed include the edit/display button, team name, course, module and certification.
§ Classes – Displays a list of classes for the selected team(s) and period sorted by date. The report columns displayed include the edit/display button, date, location, team, course, module and certification.
§ Students – Displays a list of students for the selected team(s) and period sorted by start date. A separate section is displayed for each member of the selected team(s). The report columns displayed include the edit/display button, start date, end date, hours, title, module, certification, location and province/state.
9.10 Users
This report displays a list of system users with access to the currently selected team(s) sorted by full name. The report columns displayed include the edit/display button, full name, phone: 1, email, expiry date, director/alternate and application administrator.
This report is useful for determining who has access to a particular team’s records. The level of access is not displayed; if you require this information, please contact the System Administrator.
9.11 Display Print Version
Selecting this menu option displays the current report without the menu bar. This is useful for displaying a printer friendly report without graphics suitable for printing on your computer’s printer. A “Return to Previous Screen” link is provided to permit you to return to the normal view when you are done.
10 Information Menu
Currently only the information option is available. In future versions, online help and other information may be added here.
10.1 Notices
This causes the information notice to be displayed. The notice is a page where the System Administrator can post information about the system which is of interest to all users.
11 Refresh Button
The refresh button is used to update the current display. This is useful when using the map display when the map control options are changed.
12 Map Controls
The map view may or may not be available depending on how the System Administrator has configured the site. If the map view is not available in the view menu, then this section does not apply to you.
The map controls are only displayed once the map view is chosen. The map controls allow you to control the details shown on the graphical map display. Available options include roads, railroads, population and place (Pop. Place) and team boundaries. To use the controls, select or deselect the corresponding checkbox for each layer you want to view or hide and then press the refresh button; the updated map containing the selected data will be displayed.
The map display is a graphical representation of the currently selected province/state or the entire country if the “All” provinces/states filter is selected.
The zoom in and zoom out buttons affect the area displayed
in the map. To zoom in, press the 
button and use your mouse to select an
area by clicking on the map, holding down the mouse button and dragging the
pointer to define the area. When you release the button after selecting an area
using the selection marquee, the map display will be updated. Note that the
zoom control has a maximum zoom level which is determined by the map dataset
that is installed; if you try to zoom to an area that is beyond the system’s
ability to display, the map displayed will not change.
To zoom out, press the 
button and the map display will immediately
refresh.
To adjust the map area directionally, press the 
button and use
your mouse pointer to click in an area of the map to adjust the map centre
towards that direction. The further from centre that you click, the larger the
adjustment will be.
At the bottom of the report is a query result area which is
controlled by pressing the 
button and dragging the selection marquee
over the area for which more detailed information is desired. Once you have
selected an area, the map will be refreshed and the query results returned in
the information section.
13 Search Control
The search control allows you to search for specific records in the database and access them directly without having to browse through many unrelated records.
13.1 For
The "For" input box is where you specify the text to search for. You can enter partial or complete strings, but the use of wildcards (e.g. * , ?, etc.) is not supported.
13.2 In
The "In" dropdown list allows you to specify the target of the search. Various options are available:
§ Search: Weather - Search report weather conditions.
§ Search: File ID - Search report police or NBGSARA file numbers.
§ Search: Manager - Search report search manager.
§ Search: Subject - Search report subject name.
§ Search: Activity - Search report activity type.
§ Search: Environment - Search report environment types.
§ Search: Reason - Search report reason types.
§ Contact: Name - Contact name.
§ Contact: Contact - Contact (email address or phone number) in contacts.
§ Contact: Address - Contact street address (street, city, postal/zip code, province/state).
§ Team: Name - Team name.
§ Team: Address - Team address (street, city or postal/zip code).
13.3 Search
Clicking the search button executes the search and causes the results to be shown in the display area. If no results are found, the message "There are no results to display" will be shown.
14 Acknowledgements
§ Extensive collaboration, translation to Canadian French and initial development testing was completed by Joseph LaBelle, Tri-County Ground Search and Rescue Group (TCGSAR), Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Joseph also co-presented the software at SarScene 2003 in Kingston, Ontario. http://www.tcgsar.nb.ca.
§ Chris Steeves, New Brunswick Ground Search and Rescue Association (NBGSARA) President, has been instrumental in promotion of this software and has provided support and encouragement. http://www.nbgsara.nb.ca.
§ The membership of the NBGSARA participated in the development of the E-GADS! system in its early stages by providing valuable feedback.
§ This software contains map interface components of GMAP by the DM Solutions group, (http://www2.dmsolutions.on.ca). Specifically, lib_map.php, portions of display.php, map.phtml, the ROSA Java applet and the Canadian GIS dataset.
§ The Softricks Popup Date Picker Calendar, Version: v1.82, is used to provide the javascript popup calendar function within the application.
§ The menu interface is provided through Coolmenus Beta 4.06, an excellent javascript library written by Thomas Brattli – http://www.dhtmlcentral.com
§ PadLeft.js and PadRight.js are provided by Affordable Production Tools, http://www.aptools.com/
15 GNU Free Documentation License
GNU Free Documentation License
Version 1.2, November 2002
Copyright (C) 2000,2001,2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
0. PREAMBLE
The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other functional and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for the author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not being considered responsible for modifications made by others.
This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative works of the document must themselves be free in the same sense. It complements the GNU General Public License, which is a copyleft license designed for free software.
We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for free software, because free software needs free documentation: a free program should come with manuals providing the same freedoms that the software does. But this License is not limited to software manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book. We recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is instruction or reference.
1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS
This License applies to any manual or other work, in any medium, that contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the terms of this License. Such a notice grants a world-wide, royalty-free license, unlimited in duration, to use that work under the conditions stated herein. The "Document", below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member of the public is a licensee, and is addressed as "you". You accept the license if you copy, modify or distribute the work in a way requiring permission under copyright law.
A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the Document or a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with modifications and/or translated into another language.
A "Secondary Section" is a named appendix or a front-matter section of the Document that deals exclusively with the relationship of the publishers or authors of the Document to the Document's overall subject (or to related matters) and contains nothing that could fall directly within that overall subject. (Thus, if the Document is in part a textbook of mathematics, a Secondary Section may not explain any
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The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary Sections whose titles are designated, as being those of Invariant Sections, in the notice that says that the Document is released under this License. If a section does not fit the above definition of Secondary then it is not allowed to be designated as Invariant. The Document may contain zero Invariant Sections. If the Document does not identify any Invariant Sections then there are none.
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A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy, represented in a format whose specification is available to the general public, that is suitable for revising the document straightforwardly with generic text editors or (for images composed of pixels) generic paint programs or (for drawings) some widely available drawing editor, and that is suitable for input to text formatters or for automatic translation to a variety of formats suitable for input to text formatters. A copy made in an otherwise Transparent file format whose markup, or absence of markup, has been arranged to thwart or discourage subsequent modification by readers is not Transparent. An image format is not Transparent if used for any substantial amount of text. A copy that is not "Transparent" is called "Opaque".
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The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself, plus such following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the material this License requires to appear in the title page. For works in formats which do not have any title page as such, "Title Page" means the text near the most prominent appearance of the work's title, preceding the beginning of the body of the text.
A section "Entitled XYZ" means a named subunit of the Document whose title either is precisely XYZ or contains XYZ in parentheses following text that translates XYZ in another language. (Here XYZ stands for a specific section name mentioned below, such as "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", "Endorsements", or "History".) To "Preserve the Title" of such a section when you modify the Document means that it remains a section "Entitled XYZ" according to this definition.
The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice which states that this License applies to the Document. These Warranty Disclaimers are considered to be included by reference in this License, but only as regards disclaiming warranties: any other implication that these Warranty Disclaimers may have is void and has no effect on the meaning of this License.
2. VERBATIM COPYING
You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or noncommercially, provided that this License, the copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License applies to the Document are reproduced in all copies, and that you add no other conditions whatsoever to those of this License. You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or distribute. However, you may accept compensation in exchange for copies. If you distribute a large enough number of copies you must also follow the conditions in section 3.
You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above, and you may publicly display copies.
3. COPYING IN QUANTITY
If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly have printed covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and the Document's license notice requires Cover Texts, you must enclose the copies in covers that carry, clearly and legibly, all these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the front cover, and Back-Cover Texts on the back cover. Both covers must also clearly and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies. The front cover must present the full title with all words of the title equally prominent and visible. You may add other material on the covers in addition. Copying with changes limited to the covers, as long as they preserve the title of the Document and satisfy these conditions, can be treated as verbatim copying in other respects.
If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit legibly, you should put the first ones listed (as many as fit reasonably) on the actual cover, and continue the rest onto adjacent pages.
If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document numbering more than 100, you must either include a machine-readable Transparent copy along with each Opaque copy, or state in or with each Opaque copy a computer-network location from which the general network-using public has access to download using public-standard network protocols a complete Transparent copy of the Document, free of added material. If you use the latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps, when you begin distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure that this Transparent copy will remain thus accessible at the stated location until at least one year after the last time you distribute an Opaque copy (directly or through your agents or retailers) of that edition to the public.
It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of the Document well before redistributing any large number of copies, to give them a chance to provide you with an updated version of the Document.
4. MODIFICATIONS
You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with the Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do these things in the Modified Version:
A. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title distinct from that of the Document, and from those of previous versions (which should, if there were any, be listed in the History section of the Document). You may use the same title as a previous version if the original publisher of that version gives permission.
B. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or entities responsible for authorship of the modifications in the Modified Version, together with at least five of the principal authors of the Document (all of its principal authors, if it has fewer than five), unless they release you from this requirement.
C. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the Modified Version, as the publisher.
D. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.
E. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications adjacent to the other copyright notices.
F. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license notice giving the public permission to use the Modified Version under the terms of this License, in the form shown in the Addendum below.
G. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant Sections and required Cover Texts given in the Document's license notice.
H. Include an unaltered copy of this License.
I. Preserve the section Entitled "History", Preserve its Title, and add to it an item stating at least the title, year, new authors, and publisher of the Modified Version as given on the Title Page. If there is no section Entitled "History" in the Document, create one stating the title, year, authors, and publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page, then add an item describing the Modified Version as stated in the previous sentence.
J. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document for public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and likewise the network locations given in the Document for previous versions it was based on. These may be placed in the "History" section. You may omit a network location for a work that was published at least four years before the Document itself, or if the original publisher of the version it refers to gives permission.
K. For any section Entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications", Preserve the Title of the section, and preserve in the section all the substance and tone of each of the contributor acknowledgements and/or dedications given therein.
L. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document, unaltered in their text and in their titles. Section numbers or the equivalent are not considered part of the section titles.
M. Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements". Such a section may not be included in the Modified Version.
N. Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled "Endorsements" or to conflict in title with any Invariant Section.
O. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.
If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no material copied from the Document, you may at your option designate some or all of these sections as invariant. To do this, add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified Version's license notice. These titles must be distinct from any other section titles.
You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various parties--for example, statements of peer review or that the text has been approved by an organization as the authoritative definition of a standard.
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The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version.
5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
You may combine the Document with other documents released under this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for modified versions, provided that you include in the combination all of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents, unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all their Warranty Disclaimers.
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In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled "History" in the various original documents, forming one section Entitled "History"; likewise combine any sections Entitled "Acknowledgements", and any sections Entitled "Dedications". You must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements".
6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other documents released under this License, and replace the individual copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the documents in all other respects.
You may extract a single document from such a collection, and distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow this License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of that document.
7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS
A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium, is called an "aggregate" if the copyright resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the legal rights of the compilation's users beyond what the individual works permit. When the Document is included in an aggregate, this License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate which are not themselves derivative works of the Document.
If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one half of the entire aggregate, the Document's Cover Texts may be placed on covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate, or the electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in electronic form. Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket the whole aggregate.
8. TRANSLATION
Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section 4. Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special permission from their copyright holders, but you may include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a translation of this License, and all the license notices in the Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also include the original English version of this License and the original versions of those notices and disclaimers. In case of a disagreement between the translation and the original version of this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will prevail.
If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", or "History", the requirement (section 4) to Preserve its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the actual title.
9. TERMINATION
You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as expressly provided for under this License. Any other attempt to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Document is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance.
10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE
The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.
Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version number. If the Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this License "or any later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that specified version or of any later version that has been published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If the Document does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation.
ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents
To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of the License in the document and put the following copyright and license notices just after the title page:
Copyright (c) YEAR YOUR NAME.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free Documentation License".
If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover Texts, replace the "with...Texts." line with this:
with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with the Front-Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts being LIST.
If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other combination of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the situation.
If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to permit their use in free software.
-- End of Document --