Chapter 1Introducing the MunsysQ Concepts User Manual

Welcome to MunsysQ

MunsysQ brings the Munsys capture and maintenance functions to QGIS. It is a QGIS plugin that works on the same Munsys database, the same data model and the same business rules as Munsys on AutoCAD, so both products can be used side by side on the same data.

If you already know Munsys, most of what you know still applies: applications, spatial tables, lookup values, integrity checks and posting all work on the same principles. What changes is the desktop. The drawing becomes a QGIS project, AutoCAD layers become QGIS layers, and the AutoCAD command line is replaced by QAD, a QGIS plugin that provides AutoCAD-style commands and prompts.

About this manual

This manual explains the concepts behind MunsysQ: how it connects to your data, how Munsys objects behave in QGIS, and how the capture, integrity and posting cycle works. It is the starting point for all MunsysQ users, whichever application they work in.

Step-by-step instructions for individual menu functions are published in the MunsysQ online help, which you can open at any time with the Online Help button on the MunsysQ panel.

What is in this manual

Conventions in this manual

Chapter 2Getting acquainted with MunsysQ

MunsysQ overview

Munsys is a multi-user spatial system for utilities and government. Spatial data from different departments is stored in one central database, which removes duplication and lets every department work from the same cadastral base.

The capture and change functions enforce data standards as you work. Before new or changed data reaches the database it is verified by the integrity check, which tests the objects against the business rules. Only then is it posted.

MunsysQ delivers this on QGIS, the open source desktop GIS. You do not need to be a GIS specialist to use it: the MunsysQ menus guide you through each capture and change function, and QAD provides the precise drawing tools that Munsys users know from AutoCAD.

MunsysQ features

• Application-specific capture and change functions. Engineering rules for each discipline are built into the functions, so the data that you capture follows the standard.
• One shared database. MunsysQ, Munsys on AutoCAD and web applications all read and write the same Munsys schema.
• Menus and rules stored as data. The menus, lookup values and application settings that you see are read from the database, so an administrator can maintain them centrally.
• Open standards. Spatial data is read and written through OGC web services (WFS-T), or directly in the database on a private network.
• Built on QGIS. Styling, labelling, printing, filtering and analysis are all standard QGIS functions and remain available while you use MunsysQ.

Introducing the MunsysQ applications

MunsysQ groups its functions by application, in the same way as Munsys. You choose the application that you want to work in from the Module list on the MunsysQ panel.

How MunsysQ fits together

MunsysQ is the part that you see, but it works with several other components. It helps to know what each one does, because each has its own connection and its own credentials.

The MunsysQ user interface

The MunsysQ panel

The MunsysQ panel replaces the Munsys pull-down menus. It docks to the side of the QGIS window and holds the application selector, five buttons and the menu tree.

The five menu groups

The first three groups belong to the selected application and change when you choose another application. The last two are the same in every application.

The complete menus are listed in Appendix A.

The MunsysQ toolbars

The QGIS project is your workspace

In MunsysQ there is no drawing, no basemap to query and no drawing catalog. Your workspace is a QGIS project file (.qgz). The project holds a layer for each spatial table that you work with, the style and labels of each layer, and the map view.

A typical MunsysQ project arranges the layers in one group per application, with a basemap group at the bottom, as shown in the Layers panel in Figure 2. A layer is connected to the database for as long as the project is open: as you pan and zoom, QGIS requests the objects for the area that you are looking at. There is no separate query step to bring objects into the workspace.

• MunsysQ finds the layer that a function needs by the spatial table behind the layer, not by the layer name. You can rename layers and move them between groups freely.
• Add each spatial table to the project once. Duplicate layers on the same table make it unclear which layer holds your edits.
• Styles, labels and visibility affect only what you see. They never change the data.
• Filtering layers and querying objects with QGIS is covered in a separate chapter.

Chapter 3Connecting to Munsys data

Before you can capture, MunsysQ needs two connections: one for the spatial layers and one for the Munsys REST service. This chapter explains the choices and shows where each setting is stored.

Two ways to connect the spatial layers

The spatial layers in your project can reach the database in one of two ways. Your administrator decides which one applies to your organisation.

Whichever way the layers connect, MunsysQ behaves the same. The menus, prompts, integrity checks and the Post to Database function do not change, and in both cases the Munsys REST service is still required.

What travels over which connection

Storing credentials in QGIS Authentication

MunsysQ never stores a password or key itself. All credentials are kept in the QGIS authentication store, which is an encrypted database in your QGIS user profile, protected by a master password. Each set of credentials is saved as an authentication configuration with a short ID. Connections, layers and MunsysQ settings then refer to that ID and never contain the credentials themselves.

You normally need two configurations:

To create an authentication configuration

1. In QGIS, choose Settings > Options and select the Authentication tab.
2. On the Configurations tab, click the Add button. If this is the first time you use the authentication store, QGIS asks you to set a master password. Choose one and keep it safe: it cannot be recovered.
3. Enter a Name that tells you what the configuration is for, for example Example City GeoServer.
4. Note the Id. QGIS generates a seven-character ID. If your organisation shares project files, unlock the field and type the ID that your administrator has specified, so that everyone uses the same one.
5. Select the method, Basic Authentication or API Header, and enter the credentials as described in the table above.
6. Click Save.

Configuring a WFS-T connection

A WFS connection tells QGIS where GeoServer is and which authentication configuration to use. You create it once. It is stored in your QGIS profile and is available in every project.

To create the connection

1. Choose Layer > Data Source Manager and select WFS / OGC API - Features.
2. Click New. The connection dialog box is displayed.

   

3. Enter a Name for the connection.
4. In URL, enter the WFS address of your workspace as supplied by your administrator. It has the form https://<server>/geoserver/<WORKSPACE>/wfs.
5. Under Authentication, stay on the Configurations tab and select your GeoServer authentication configuration. Do not use the Basic tab: it stores the user name and password as plain text in the connection.
6. Set the WFS options as shown in the table below, then click OK.

To add the spatial layers to a project

1. In the Data Source Manager, select your connection and click Connect. The feature types that your account may see are listed, named WORKSPACE:SP_TABLE.
2. Select Only request features overlapping the view extent. With this option QGIS fetches only the area on screen, which keeps large networks responsive.
3. Select the feature types that you need and click Add.
4. Set the project coordinate reference system if required, arrange and style the layers, and save the project.

How to tell that a layer can be edited

A WFS layer can be edited when the server offers transactions for it and your GeoServer account has an edit role on the workspace. If Toggle Editing is unavailable for a layer, or a MunsysQ function reports that it cannot start editing a layer, your account has read access only. Contact your administrator.

Configuring a direct database connection

On a private network your administrator may choose to connect QGIS directly to the Munsys database. The principle is the same as for WFS: create a connection once, refer to an authentication configuration, and add the spatial tables to the project as layers.

1. Create an authentication configuration of type Basic Authentication for your database user, as described in Storing credentials in QGIS Authentication.
2. Choose Layer > Data Source Manager, select the database type that your administrator specifies, and click New.
3. Enter a connection name and the database, host and port supplied by your administrator, and select the authentication configuration.
4. Click Test Connection, then OK.
5. Connect, select the spatial tables of the Munsys schema that you need, and add them to the project. Where QGIS asks for a key column, use GID.

Configuring the Munsys REST service

The REST configuration tells MunsysQ where the Munsys REST service is. Configurations are saved by name, so you can keep one for each environment that you work in, for example production and training.

1. On the MunsysQ panel, click Settings and select the REST Settings tab.
2. Click Add and name the configuration, or select an existing one from the list.
3. Enter the Integration API Base URL supplied by your administrator. The REST API Endpoint and Auth Token Endpoint are derived from it and can be adjusted if your administrator specifies different addresses.
4. Leave Verify TLS certificates selected.
5. In Auth Config ID, enter the ID of the API Header authentication configuration that holds your API key.
6. Click Check URL to confirm that the service responds, then click Save Configuration. The saved configuration becomes the active one.
7. On the MunsysQ panel, click Reload Menus. The Module list fills with your applications.

The MunsysQ Settings dialog box

The Settings button on the MunsysQ panel opens the MunsysQ Settings dialog box. Its settings belong to your QGIS profile, not to the database, so they apply to every project that you open.

Where each setting is stored

Chapter 4Working with Munsys objects

Introducing Munsys objects

A Munsys object is a record in a spatial table. It combines a geometry with a set of attributes, and it may have further records in linked tables. In QGIS, each spatial table is a layer and each object is a feature in that layer.

Munsys uses four kinds of object:

Whatever its type, every Munsys object has the following characteristics:

• Spatial table. The table that holds the object, for example SP_PARCEL. Each spatial table is identified in the schema by a number, the MunID.
• GID. The number that identifies the object. MunsysQ obtains a new GID from the database at the moment you capture an object, so the object already carries its permanent ID before it is posted.
• Tag. A text value with a position, size, angle and justification, used to annotate the object on the map.
• Attributes. The descriptive columns of the table, many of which take their values from lookup tables.

Components of each Munsys object

Each object type has a default set of columns. Application tables add their own attribute columns to these.

Tags and labels

In MunsysQ a tag is drawn as a QGIS label. The standard layer styles read the tag columns, so the label shows the tag value at the stored position, height, angle and justification. Because Munsys on AutoCAD reads the same columns, a tag looks the same in both products.

The capture functions place the tag at a default position, for example the midpoint of a line. Functions such as Change > Move Street Name change the stored position. Changing the label settings in the QGIS layer style changes only how tags are displayed on your screen.

Each application also has functions on its Capture menu for placing labels, notes and dimension arrows, for example Capture > Place Water Label and Capture > Place Water Note.

Lookup tables

Many attributes can take only a value from a fixed list, for example pipe material or parcel type. These lists are held in lookup tables in the database. Each entry has a code, which is stored with the object, and a description, which is what you see.

Functions whose names end in a type or attribute, such as Change > Change Pipe Attributes > Material..., display the lookup list and apply the value that you choose to the selected objects. Administrators maintain the lists with the Lookup Values button on the MunsysQ Admin toolbar.

Application settings

Each application has a settings function at the top of its Capture group, for example Capture > Water Settings.... The settings are the defaults that the capture and integrity functions use: the type, diameter and material given to a new pipe, symbol scales, text heights, offsets and integrity tolerances.

Review the settings before you start a capture task. Setting the defaults to match the work in hand means that new objects receive the correct attributes as you draw them, and you do not have to change them afterwards.

As an example, the Water settings are grouped as follows:

The life cycle of an edit

Every capture and change follows the same four stages. Understanding them is the key to working safely in MunsysQ.

Pending edits and the edit buffer

When a MunsysQ function creates or changes an object, it switches the layer into edit mode and places the change in the layer's edit buffer. The edit buffer is held by QGIS on your computer. Nothing has reached the database yet and no other user can see the change.

Objects with pending edits are drawn with a highlight so that you can see at a glance what you have changed since you last posted. This is the MunsysQ equivalent of the working colour in Munsys. You can set the colour, width and opacity of the highlight on the Highlight Settings tab of the MunsysQ Settings dialog box.

Each MunsysQ function is recorded as one step, so Edit > Undo reverses the whole function, including any attributes and related objects that it changed.

Editing attributes

Spatial object attributes

Change > Edit Attributes... displays the attributes of the objects that you select, in a dialog box with the columns Attribute, Value and Status. Attributes that take lookup values offer the list, and mandatory attributes must be completed before the object will pass the integrity check.

• Use the arrow buttons to step through the selected objects.
• Select Edit multiple objects simultaneously to apply a value to all the selected objects in one step.
• Select AutoZoom to object to have the map follow the object that you are editing.

Linked table attributes

Some information about an object is kept in a separate, non-spatial table that is linked to the spatial table, for example the floors and rooms of a building. One object can have several linked records. Change > Edit Linked Table Attributes... lets you step through the linked records of an object and insert, change or delete them.

Single-attribute functions

For the attributes that are changed most often, each application provides direct functions, such as Change > Change Pipe Attributes > Diameter... in Water or Change > Parcel > Change Legal Status... in Cadastral. They prompt for a value, then for the objects to apply it to.

The integrity check

The integrity check validates new and changed objects against the Munsys business rules before they are posted. It is found under Capture > Data Integrity in every application.

Each problem that the check finds is shown on the map as an integrity marker at the location of the object, in a temporary layer named Integrity Errors. Correct the object, then run the check again. The markers are a working aid on your computer only and are never posted.

Posting to the database

Capture > Post to Database... writes your pending edits to the database. It works on the application that is selected in the Module list and posts every layer of that application that has pending edits.

1. Choose Capture > Post to Database.... The Post to Database dialog box lists the layers to be posted, with the number of objects inserted, updated and deleted in each.
2. Check that the totals are what you expect, then click Post.
3. The Post to Database Results dialog box shows what was posted. Each layer has a status, and a message if it could not be posted.

Layers are posted one at a time. If a layer cannot be posted, its edits stay pending in the edit buffer so that you can correct the problem and post again, while the other layers are posted normally. After a successful post, the highlight is cleared, the locks on the posted objects are released, and the objects are available to all users.

Deleting and restoring objects

Munsys record locking

Because many users work on the same database, Munsys provides record locking: the ability to lock individual objects for editing. When an object is locked, other users are prevented from changing it until your changes have been posted to the database, or until the object is unlocked. Locks apply across MunsysQ and Munsys on AutoCAD.

How objects become locked

• Implicitly. When you use any Change function, the objects that you select are locked automatically. They stay locked until you have posted the changes, after which they are unlocked automatically.
• Explicitly. With Object > Lock Objects you lock objects yourself before you start, for example to reserve all the objects of a task. Explicitly locked objects are also unlocked automatically when the changes that you made to them are posted.

When an object is locked, its geometry and tag position are refreshed from the database. This ensures that you start from the latest information at the moment you obtain editing rights on the object.

If a function selects an object that another user has locked, the change is refused and you are told who holds the lock.

What a lock is

A Munsys lock is a record in the table MUNSYS_LOCKED_OBJECTS. It is not a lock held by a database session. That has two consequences:

• A lock stays in place when you close QGIS, restart your computer or lose your connection. It remains until it is released.
• A lock is visible to every Munsys product. An object locked in MunsysQ is locked for Munsys on AutoCAD, and the other way round.

How the database grants and releases locks

All lock requests go through the lock manager in the database, so the same rules apply whichever product asks.

MunsysQ reaches the lock manager through the lock service of the Munsys REST API. Locking therefore works identically whether your layers use WFS-T or a direct database connection.

Locking objects

With this function you lock several objects in one step, preventing other users from changing them while you work.

1. Choose Object > Lock Objects.
2. At the prompt Select objects to be locked..., select the objects on the map and press Enter.
3. The command line reports the result for the selection: how many objects were locked and, for any object that another user has already locked, who holds the lock.

The layers of the objects that you have locked are switched to edit mode, so that you can continue straight away with a change function or with grips.

Showing locked objects

This function shows which objects in an area are locked.

1. Choose Object > Show Locked Objects....
2. At the prompt Specify user category [Current user/Other users] <current user>, choose whose locks you want to see. Press Enter to accept your own.
3. At the prompt Select objects to be verified..., select the objects to check and press Enter.

The objects in your selection that are locked remain selected on the map, the map zooms to them, and the command line reports how many were found.

Browsing locked objects

Object > Browse Locked Objects... lists the objects that you have locked in the current application, whether or not they are in view. For each lock the Browse Locked Objects dialog box shows the spatial table, the GID, the MunID, the user and the status.

Unlocking objects

Objects whose changes you post are unlocked automatically and need no further action. You only have to unlock objects yourself when you locked them and then did not change them, or when you decide not to go ahead with a change.

1. Choose Object > Unlock Objects.
2. At the prompt Select objects to be unlocked..., select the objects and press Enter.

Your locks on the selected objects are released. Locks held by another user are not affected, and the command line tells you who holds them. You can also release locks from the Browse Locked Objects dialog box.

What you need to know as a user

• Locking is a database setting. The administrator enables or disables record locking for the whole database. When it is disabled, several users can change the same object, and the last one to post determines its final state.
• Edit mode is not a lock. Putting a QGIS layer into edit mode does not reserve anything in the database. Only a lock record does.
• Posting completes the cycle. A lock lasts from the moment you start changing an object until the change has been posted. Post regularly, so that objects are not kept from other users longer than necessary.
• Locks belong to a user. Only the user who holds a lock can release it. An administrator can view and clear the locks of any user, for example when someone is away and has left objects locked.
• Do not leave locks behind. Objects that you locked but did not change stay locked until you unlock them. Unlock them before you close QGIS.

Refreshing objects

The map shows the objects as they were when QGIS last read them. Object > Refresh Objects reads the selected objects again, so that you see the latest posted state and the current lock status before you start work on them.

1. Choose Object > Refresh Objects.
2. At the prompt Select objects to refresh..., select the objects and press Enter.

The layers that hold the selected objects are reloaded from the database, and the command line confirms how many objects were refreshed.

Relating objects

Two Munsys objects can be linked in a parent and child relationship, for example to record that one object belongs to another. Relationships are stored in the database and can connect objects in different spatial tables.

1. Choose Object > Relate Objects.
2. At the prompt Select PARENT Object:, select the parent.
3. At the prompt Select CHILD Object:, select the child. The command line confirms that the relationship has been defined.

Object > UnRelate Objects removes a relationship in the same way: select the parent, then the child.

Chapter 5QAD: AutoCAD-style capture in QGIS

What QAD is

QAD is a QGIS plugin that adds the drawing and editing commands of a CAD system to QGIS. It gives QGIS a command line, typed coordinates, object snaps, polar tracking and grips, with command names and prompts that follow AutoCAD.

MunsysQ uses QAD for the geometry part of its functions. That is how MunsysQ keeps the Munsys way of capturing: you start a function from the MunsysQ menu, and the function then prompts you step by step at the command line, exactly as a Munsys function does in AutoCAD.

How a MunsysQ function runs

1. You double-click a function in the MunsysQ menu tree, for example Capture > Draw Freehand Pipe.
2. MunsysQ makes the correct layer current, switches it to edit mode and sets the snapping that the function needs. You do not have to select the layer yourself.
3. A prompt appears on the QAD command line, for example Select pipe: or a request for a point.
4. You answer the prompt by clicking on the map, by snapping to an existing object, or by typing a coordinate, distance or option and pressing Enter.
5. The function continues to prompt until it has everything it needs. Press Enter or right-click to finish a sequence of points, or Esc to cancel the function.
6. MunsysQ completes the object: it obtains the GID, applies the default attributes from the application settings, places the tag, and updates any related objects, such as breaking a pipe where a node was inserted. The result is a pending edit, highlighted on the map.

How QAD mimics AutoCAD

What is different from AutoCAD

• A layer holds one kind of geometry. A QGIS layer is a point, line or polygon layer, and each Munsys spatial table is one layer. You cannot draw a line in a point layer. MunsysQ selects the correct layer for each function.
• Symbols instead of blocks. A node is a point with a symbol name, scale and angle. Placing a node is placing a point; the symbol is drawn by the layer style.
• Editing happens in the edit buffer. QAD commands work on layers that are in edit mode, and their results are pending edits like any other.
• Use the MunsysQ function where one exists. You can run QAD commands yourself on a Munsys layer, but a plain QAD command changes only the geometry. The MunsysQ functions also keep the attributes, tags and network connections in step. For example, use Change > Break Pipe rather than the QAD BREAK command, so that both parts receive correct IDs and attributes.
• Plain QAD commands are ideal on construction layers. Use them freely to draw the construction geometry from which you later build or convert Munsys objects. See Construction layers.
• QGIS tools still work. Pan, zoom, identify, measure and the attribute table are all available while you work, and you can pan and zoom with the mouse in the middle of a command.

Chapter 6MunsysQ line tools

Objectives

The Tools menu is the same in every application. Its functions are used to construct cadastral boundaries and other line work from registered plans, working from the coordinates, distances and directions shown on the plan.

The tools work on construction geometry, not on Munsys objects. What they draw is placed on temporary construction layers. It reaches the database only when you generate or convert Munsys objects from it and post them.

Coordinate files

A coordinate file is a list of coordinated points taken from a plan. Each entry has a plan number, a point label, and a Y and X coordinate. You enter the points once, check them, and then construct the boundaries by naming the points to join. The default file name is COORDS.LXY, the same format that Munsys uses, so coordinate files can be exchanged between the two products.

To construct boundaries from a coordinate file

1. Choose Tools > Coordinate File > Construct... and select the coordinate file.
2. On the command line, enter the plan number.
3. Enter the label of the start point, then the label of the end point. A line is drawn between the two points and its length is shown on the command line, so that you can compare it with the distance on the plan.
4. Confirm that the line is correct, then continue with the next pair of labels.
5. Press Esc when the boundaries are complete.

Drawing by distance and direction

Plans usually describe a boundary as a series of distances and directions rather than coordinates. These functions let you draw straight from those figures.

The drawing functions start with the prompt Specify start point or [Format]:. Choose Format to set how you will type directions. In the Munsys format, a direction is typed as degrees, a decimal point, then minutes and seconds: 23.2541 means 23 degrees, 25 minutes and 41 seconds. Directions written on lines are shown as DDD-MM-SS.

Chapter 7Construction and conversion tools

Not everything that you draw is a Munsys object straight away. Survey plans, as-built drawings and working geometry are first brought into QGIS as ordinary geometry, and then turned into Munsys objects. This chapter introduces the tools for that.

Construction layers

Construction layers are the MunsysQ equivalent of drawing plain AutoCAD lines before generating Munsys objects from them. The Construction Layers button on the MunsysQ toolbar creates and activates one of four temporary layers:

With a construction layer active, draw with the QAD commands or with the functions of the Tools menu described in Chapter 6. Typical uses are setting out parcel boundaries from a plan before generating the parcel polygons, and drawing road construction lines before generating road centre lines. Refresh All Construction Layers... clears the construction layers so that you can start the next task with an empty workspace.

Generating polygons from construction lines

When the boundaries of an area have been constructed, the applications build the Munsys polygon objects from them, complete with attributes and tags. Examples are Capture > Parcel > Generate Parcel Polygons in Cadastral and Capture > River - Polygon > Generate River Polygons in Drainage. The construction lines must close exactly: every boundary must end on another boundary, with no gaps or overshoots.

Constructing from a PDF or image

Construct from PDF/Image reads a survey plan supplied as a PDF or scanned image and creates construction geometry from it, placed in its own group of construction layers. You then check the result against the plan and convert it in the same way as geometry that you have drawn yourself.

Importing CAD drawings

Import CAD/DWG brings an AutoCAD drawing into QGIS. You choose the drawing and the drawing layers that you want, and MunsysQ writes them to a GeoPackage file and adds them to the project as layers of lines, polygons, points, text and block references, styled to resemble the drawing.

The imported layers are reference data. They do not become part of the Munsys database until you convert the objects that you need.

Converting geometry to Munsys objects

The Extras group of each application contains the conversion functions. They take existing geometry, from an imported drawing or a construction layer, and create Munsys objects from it.

A conversion function asks you to select the source geometry and then displays the Object Conversion dialog box. There you confirm the source layer and assign values to the attributes of the new objects, either as fixed values or taken from the source. An assignment can be saved as a profile and loaded again for the next drawing of the same kind.

Object > MunConvert opens the same Object Conversion dialog box without a preset target. Use it when you want to choose the type of Munsys object yourself, or to convert to a type that has no entry on the Extras menu.

Converted objects are new Munsys objects with pending edits. They pass through the integrity check and posting like any other capture.

Publishing to GeoServer

Publish to Geoserver is intended for users with a publisher role. It keeps GeoServer in step with the database and with the standard QGIS styles, so that WFS-T users and web applications see the same layers with the same symbology.

Chapter 8From Munsys to QGIS

This chapter is for users who know Munsys on AutoCAD. The data model, the business rules and the names of most functions are unchanged. What changes is where things are and how the desktop behaves.

Where to find what you know

How the menus compare

MunsysQ keeps the Munsys menu structure. Each application has its Capture, Change and Extras menus, and the Object and Tools menus are shared by all applications. Within each menu the functions keep the names and the order that they have in Munsys, so you will find them where you expect them.

• The Query menu is the one menu with no counterpart, because layers are always connected to the database.
• The menus are a tree on the MunsysQ panel instead of pull-down menus, and a function is started with a double-click.
• The Tools functions draw on construction layers instead of on plain AutoCAD layers.

Things that work differently

• Save is not Post. Saving a QGIS project does not write anything to the database. Only Post to Database... does.
• You always see current data. Because layers read from the database as you move around the map, you see what other users have posted without querying again. Refresh the map to update the current view.
• Nothing is stored in the workspace. A Munsys drawing holds a copy of the objects that were queried into it. A QGIS project holds only the layer definitions. Apart from your pending edits, there is nothing in the project that can become out of date.
• One layer, one kind of geometry. There is no mixing of points, lines and text on one layer as in a drawing.
• Styling is separate from data. Changing a colour, symbol or label in QGIS changes the layer style, never the object. To change what an object is, change its attributes.
• Selections are temporary. A QGIS selection is not saved under a name. To work repeatedly on the same area, use a spatial bookmark or a layer filter.
• Coordinates. The project has its own coordinate reference system and QGIS reprojects layers on the fly. Coordinates that you type at the QAD command line are in the project coordinate reference system.

Recommended first steps

1. Start with the application that you know best, in a training database or a quiet area of the network.
2. Open the prepared project, check API Status, and confirm that the menu tree loads.
3. Review the application settings.
4. Capture one simple object, such as a single pipe with its end nodes, following the prompts at the command line.
5. Open Change > Edit Attributes... on the new object and check that the defaults were applied.
6. Run Validate Object Integrity... and Validate Network Integrity..., and browse any markers.
7. Choose Post to Database..., check the counts, and post.
8. Confirm the result in Munsys on AutoCAD, or ask a colleague to refresh their map and check that the object appears.

Appendix AMenus

This appendix lists the Capture, Change and Extras menus of each MunsysQ application, followed by the Object and Tools menus that all applications share. Menus are stored in the database and can be tailored by an administrator, so the menus at your site may differ. Click a heading to expand it.

ReferenceGlossary

API key

The credential that identifies you to the Munsys REST service. It is stored in a QGIS authentication configuration and exchanged for a short-lived access token.

Application

A set of MunsysQ functions for one discipline, such as Cadastral or Water. Also called a module.

Application settings

The default values and tolerances that the capture and integrity functions of an application use.

Authentication configuration

A set of credentials saved in the QGIS authentication store and referred to by its ID.

Construction layer

A temporary layer for working geometry that is not posted to the database.

Coordinate file

A file of plan numbers, point labels and coordinates from which boundaries are constructed. The default name is COORDS.LXY.

Edit buffer

The place where QGIS holds the pending edits of a layer until they are posted or discarded.

Edit highlight

The emphasis drawn around objects that have pending edits.

GeoServer

The map server that publishes the Munsys spatial tables as web services.

GID

The unique number that identifies a Munsys object.

Integrity check

The validation of objects and networks against the Munsys business rules before posting.

Integrity marker

A temporary marker on the map showing where the integrity check found a problem.

Linked table

A non-spatial table holding additional records for the objects of a spatial table.

Lock

A record in the database that reserves an object for one user until that user releases it.

Lookup table

A table holding the list of valid codes and descriptions for an attribute.

MunID

The number that identifies a spatial table within a Munsys schema.

Munsys REST service

The web service that supplies MunsysQ with menus, lookup values, settings and IDs, and that runs integrity validation and locking.

Node

A point object at the end of, or on, a network link, such as a manhole, valve or intersection marker.

Parent and child relationship

A link between two Munsys objects, created with Object > Relate Objects.

Posting

Writing pending edits to the database so that they become visible to all users.

QAD

The QGIS plugin that provides AutoCAD-style commands, prompts and snaps.

Service connection (SC)

The link between a network main and a property.

Spatial table

A database table holding the objects of one type, for example SP_PARCEL. Shown in QGIS as a layer.

Tag

The annotation text of an object, with its position, height, angle and justification.

WFS-T

Transactional Web Feature Service. The OGC standard through which QGIS reads and writes features on GeoServer.

Workspace

A GeoServer container that groups the layers of one database schema.