Export a list of fields

Pete d'OronzioCrash Magic Online > Administration

Crash Magic provides a lot of analysis tools that can be helpful to planners and engineers. However, like any software, we can't do it all. This article provides one method for sending some data from Crash Magic to another program for further analysis or reporting. Specifically, we will specify a list of fields and select them for export to a CSV, Excel or KML file.


 Antenna House license

Wordpress AdminCrash Magic Online > Administration

The Crash Magic program utilizes a third-party product in order to create (print) PDF output of its reports. This article describes how to set/update the license for that product when hosting Crash Magic on your in-house server. This article does not apply to clients for whom Pd' Programming hosts Crash Magic at GovernmentTools.com.





 Obtaining crash data from the Arizona ACIS portal

Pete d'OronzioStandard configurations > Arizona (ALISS/ACIS)

The State of Arizona provides access to their crash data through a Citrix (remote desktop) portal. In order to download data, a user must log in to a Citrix remote desktop; access the ACIS website; and initiate a download of the data to your local computer.

Note: This document is provided as-is. Pd’ Programming does not have special knowledge of or direct access to the ACIS system. We have captured the screens below with the assistance of a local agency that does have access. Please follow any instructions provided by the DOT.







 Crash Magic features that require GIS

adminCrash Magic Online > GIS

Crash Magic version 4 & version 5 can take advantage of an ArcGIS Server installation to provide additional functionality in the program  This article describes what those features are and what is required to take advantage of them.



 Obtain data from CRIS – TX DOT Crash Data

adminCrash Magic Online > Importing

In Texas, crash data is available to agencies through the CRIS data system. By following the steps included here, you can download and unzip data files suitable for import into Crash Magic. You also have the option to FTP the data to our servers rather than using the browser interface. That process is described at the bottom of this article.


 Automated import using FTP

adminCrash Magic Online > Importing

There are two methods for importing data into Crash Magic. The first is the standard manual process using the Crash Magic Online web pages. The second method utilizes FTP for automatic processing.







 Basic Beginner’s Instructions

adminCrash Magic Online > Reports

We recognize that Crash Magic can be initially daunting to some new users.  But it can be a very powerful tool for analysis, so we want our users to become masters!  As always, if you need any help, or would like us to create a custom report for you, please let us know.  These instructions will help get you started with the basics.





 Providing crash reports for configuration validation

adminCrash Magic Online > Configuration

While we do our best to read databases correctly, we also request the hard copy police reports (or electronic images) to test the flow of information from the officer's report; through converting and importing; and then the display of the crash on a diagram. This will help ensure we are interpreting the data correctly.



 ArcGIS Server Connection Configuration

adminCrash Magic Online > GIS

Crash Magic, starting with version 5, supports "dynamic collision diagrams".  These are diagrams generated by querying an agency ArcGIS server and using the roadway alignments from that server to create the diagram.  Without dynamic diagrams, the program will fall back to our standard collision diagrams that do not require any GIS system.
An ArcGIS Server connection configuration is required to identify and then query the services provided by the agency.





 Duplicate case number found in dataset

adminCrash Magic Online > Data

Crash Magic will generate an error when rendering a diagram that indicates there is a duplicate case number. This is a little misleading because the program is not capable of importing a duplicate record into the database. In reality, this error more than likely means that there is an error in a crash record that is causing our query to generate multiple rows for a single crash. A common example is when a crash has two drivers for the same vehicle.


 Lookup value for xCoord and yCoord normalized fields

adminCrash Magic Online > GIS

Most fields in the primary study query have either a lookup name or 'none' or !date or !time to reflect the content in the field.  This value is used for presenting options for that field in the filter editor and for display of the field on reports.  The xCoord and yCoord normalized values use this same value to indicate the geographic coordinate system or projection that the two coordinate fields represent their values in.



 Steps for adding a user to Crash Magic

adminCrash Magic Online > Administration

Usually when Crash Magic is initially setup, only one or two users with logins are created.  This article will give the steps for adding a new user.   1. Login to the Crash Magic Admin Side (you must have Admin rights to do this). 2. On the left side you will see your group name, […]








 Crash Magic Mini Training Sessions

adminCrash Magic Online > Reports

Pd' Programming is hosting mini training sessions periodically using the GoToMeeting platform. This allows us to host up to 25 users per meeting. All meeting information and invites will be sent via email. If you plan on attending, please reply with a RSVP, or email help@pdmagic.com to RSVP to assure a spot. Meetings will start with a specific topic and followed by a Q&A session on that topic. Then the presenter can address general questions on any topic. Training sessions are subject to change or cancellation due to scheduling or attendance. In the event of any last minute changes or technical difficulties, this page will be updated with the current information.








 Formatting XML

adminCrash Magic Online > Data

In order to read and/or compare XML files it can be handy to format them in a common way. This article describes one method for doing this. It relies on a free 3rd party product that needs to be downloaded first.















 MS Access can’t find proper DAO library

adminCrash Magic Online > Importing

When an MS Access (.mdb) database is moved from one computer to another, which have different versions of Access, attempting to reference macro/VB libraries will fail. This is because the most recent edits to the file caused Access to select libraries that may not be on the new computer.



 MagicAuto performance issue identified.

adminCrash Magic Online > Related software

Pd' Programming has identified a potential problem in the MagicAuto processing in Crash Magic Online. We are investigating and will post a knowledgebase article as soon as we have isolated it. The problem does not affect data accuracy. It is a performance issue that may affect users of Crash Magic Online when using the MagicAuto feature to call the program from a 3rd party application.