Getting Set Up

In order to use the MHN processing tools effectively, it is important to set up your MHN workspace correctly. To do so, follow these guidelines:

1. Ensure you have SAS and ArcGIS (either Desktop or Pro) installed on your computer.
2. Create an MHN workspace folder and, within it, create a copy of the main MHN geodatabase (V:\Secure\Master_Highway\MHN.gdb) for development. It is recommended that this MHN workspace folder be located on your local hard drive, as the tools will run faster on a local geodatabase than on a network drive.
3. Clone this GitHub repository into your MHN workspace folder so that mhn.gdb and the mhn_programs folder are in the same root location.
4. In your MHN workspace folder, you will also require a copy of the V:\Secure\Master_Highway\zone_systems.gdb geodatabase.
5. Switch the branch of your cloned repository to develop (or your own development branch) instead of master. After thoroughly testing any changes to the tools, push your branch to GitHub and create a pull request to merge the changes into master. (The copy of this repository located in V:\Secure\Master_Highway should be kept on the master branch at all times, and will need to have git pull run on it any time a new pull request into master has been approved on GitHub).
6. Periodically replace V:\Secure\Master_Highway\mhn.gdb with an updated, authoritative copy from your development workspace (e.g. after importing new highway project coding or updating project completion years for Conformity) -- but only if you're sure it is correct and fully functional!