Basics tutorial
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Prerequisites
The following prerequisites should be met before starting this tutorial:
- Ensure your organisation's domain administrator has created an account for you.
- This tutorial will involve the creation of a new Project.
Introduction to the Tygron Platform
The Tygron Platform is a server-client application specializing in rapid, parallel calculations and processing of data. Organizations have license which allows access to the software, and a Domain which holds all the organization's User accounts and Projects. Each user within an organization that wishes to make use of the software must have an individual User account.
Projects are complete sets of data representing a use-case in a real geographical location. Projects can be started as a Session, which is an interactive representation of Project data. Generally, only one Session can exist per Project.
When a Session is active, it is generally not possible to start a second Session while the first Session is still running. However, it is possible for multiple Users to interact with the same Session at the same time.
This tutorial assumes a user account has been created with at least EDITOR rights.
Getting started as a new user
Download the Tygron Platform client application. It can be found here:
After the download completes, install it the application, and finally start the application.
If the Tygron Platform has not been run recently on this computer, a prompt may appear for the end-user license agreement. If you agree with the terms, accept it. Note that accepting the EULA is required to continue this tutorial and to use the Tygron Platform in general.
At the login screen, click on "forgot password". Enter the email associated with your account, and click on "Reset".
This will prompt an email to be sent to your email account with a new password, which will allow you to log in.
After resetting, the login screen will have reappeared. As username, enter your email. As password, enter the password sent to you in the mail. Then click on "sign in".
If the Tygron Platform has been freshly (re)installed, the application may take a moment to optimize its internal settings, so that it can maximize performance as necessary. This will force the application to close. When this happens, restart the application, and log in again.
In the main menu, click on "options", and then "my account". This screen will allow you to manage your own account and your own Projects.
Click on "Change my password". A prompt will appear with which you can change your password to one you can remember.
Working with Projects
Essential for working with the Tygron Platform is the ability to create new Projects and manage their Sessions and permissions.
Creating a new Project
In the main menu, click on "Create new Project". This will start the New Project Wizard.
Enter a name for the new Project. A Project name should usually indicate the geographical setting where the Project is located. When creating a new Project for the purpose of experimentation, such as a tutorial, it is generally convention to have the project name indicate the person the Project belongs to, e.g. test-yourname.
The name must be between 3 and 20 characters, and may consist of alphanumeric characters, spaces, and dashes.
When creating a new Project, it is possible to either create a new Project from scratch, or to base the new Project on a pre-existing Project. Ensure the option for creating a new project is selected.
Set the Projects language to the desired language, the currency to the desired currency, and the measurement system to "international".
Proceed to the next screen of the wizard.
This screen allows the selection of the geographical location and size of the new Project.
Use the search bar to locate the general area where the Project is to be located.
Move the map using the right-mouse button.
Use the left mouse button to place the blue selection zone in the appropriate location. Everything within the blue extent will be part of the Project and the 3D visualization. Anything outside the blue extent will not be part of the Project and the 3D visualization.
Click on "Advanced Options". This opens an additional panel in which some specific datasources can be toggled or configured. Some datasources can be explicitly includes or excluded from the process of generating the Project.
Disable the "Ownership" options. This will disable the Tygron Platform from generating a complex ownership situation, which might inhibit the free application of tools for sketching a future situation using Actions. Disabling the import of ownership data is a best-practise.
Click on "Generate". This will start the data import process on the Tygron Platform server.
After the generation process completes, the editor environment and 3D visualization will load.
Saving, and permissions
When then editor and the 3D visualization have loaded, it is possible to explore the data present in the project, to effect changes in the data, to add calculation models, and perform all other operations desired.
Before exploring the editor, click on "File" in the top-left corner of the screen. This will open the File menu for the Project.
Click on "Save" to save the Project. The current state of the Project will now be saved.
After the Project has saved, click on versions.
Each Project can have a maximum of 10 versions within it. Versions are used to create known states of a Project, to which it is possible to revert if so desired.
Click on "Add new version". This will save the current state of the Session in a second version. The second version will now be listed, and this new version will also be marked as active. If changes are now made to the Project and the Project is saved, those changed will be stored in the new version. At any point in the future, it will be possible to revert the Project back to the initial "Base Version", which will not include those changes made in the second version.
Click on "details". This will open the overview of general meta-data of the Project, including an overview of the permission which dictate who can access this Project and Session.
Permissions can be set for:
- Owner, which is generally the User whom created the Project
- Other users in Domain, which are all the Users in the same Domain
- Tygron Support, which is any Tygron employees
The rights for any of these can be set to any of the following levels:
- NONE, which means the Project cannot be accessed.
- READ, which means the Project can be opened as a Session. Data can be inspected and modified, but not saved. Saving a copy to create a new Project is allowed.
- WRITE, which means the Project can be saved as well, allowed its data to be permanently changed.
Note that any newly created Project (including one resulting from copying an existing Project), will have all rights except of that of the owner set to NONE. This is in line with Tygron's privacy-by-default policy, requiring explicit granting of access to others.
Also note that because the permissions for Tygron Support are set to NONE by default, Tygron employees cannot access a Project's data without explicit approval.
Closing and reopening
In the File menu, click on "Exit".
A prompt will appear to ensure you wish to exit, and whether the Project should be saved before closing. Opt to close the Session, either with or without saving.
The application will now close. The client application always closes fully when exiting a Session. Additionally, because there are no more Users active in the Session, the Session itself is also ended on the server. Because the Project has been saved manually before closing it, the Project data will continue to exist on the server even after the Session has closed.
Restart the application and log in again.
In the main menu, click on "options", and then "my account". Notice that now a Project is listed, specifically the Project created previously.
The permission settings, which could be edited from the Editor, can also be set from this overview.
Additionally, if at any point a Project should be reverted to a previous version, that can be done from this overview as well. Note that no Session of the Project may be running while changing the Project's version.
Finally, also take note of the options to rename any Project listed here, or delete any Project listed here.
Go back to the main menu, and click on "Edit Project".
The list of Projects includes:
- Projects created or owned by you.
- Projects from other Users in the same Domain which have their permissions set such that they are accessible for other users in the same Domain.
- Projects made globally available by Tygron, such as Demo projects
Select the Project created as part of this tutorial.
The Project will now open in a new Session, again providing an Editor environment in which it is possible to interact with the data.
Interacting with Project data
Sessions allow interacting with Project data, such that:
- The data present in the Project is made to be more representative of reality.
- Calculation models are added to analyse the data, resulting in information on a variety of theme's such as heat, water, and traffic effects.
- Tools for adding changes, from individual options for free-form drawing to complete urban plans which can be implemented integrally, are available for exploring and analyzing potential scenarios.
Structure of the editor
The editor can be considered to consist of 2 levels of interface:
- The 3D visualization and related user interface in the center of the screen, with mostly dark-colored interface elements.
- The surrounding/overlaid editing interface, with mostly bright-colored interface elements.
Exploring the 3D visualization
The 3D visualization is a visualization of the data in the Session, as a unified 3D world. All elements which can be seen in the 3D environment are based on data present in the Session.
Camera
The 3D visualization is facilitated through a camera, which has a position (the point at which the camera is located, and looking "from"), and a focal point (the point at which the camera is directed, and looking towards).
Click in the 3D world, and move the camera. Try the following motions:
- Hold down the left mouse button, and drag the 3D world, to move the camera along the horizontal plane.
- Hold down the right mouse button, and drag the 3D world, to rotate the camera around the point the camera is pointed at.
- Scroll the scroll wheel up and down to zoom in and out.
There are multiple camera modes available, which can be switched between. Find the camera icon at the top right side of the user interface.
Change the camera mode by clicking on the icon, and again try to move, rotate, and zoom the camera.
Move the focal point of the camera as far to the side as possible. Notice that when the edge of the Project area is reached, it is not possible to move any further. The camera is always directed at a location inside the Project area.
Overlays
On the right side of the screen, a list of icons is displayed. These icons represent Overlays, which are map layers which can be switched between. By default, the following Overlays are available:
| Icon | Overlay | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Base | Shows the 3D world as-is, without additional information. |
 |
Neighborhood | The Neighborhoods the world is divided up into. |
 |
Ownership | Shows what areas and what Buildings are owned by which Stakeholders. |
Click on the icons to switch between the Overlays. You will see the 3D visualization now includes an additional overlaid image displaying specific information.
A legend is also displayed at the bottom of the user interface, clarifying the meaning of the colors of the Overlay.
Note that, because the "Ownership" option was turned off while creating this Project, there is no detailed ownership data available. The Ownership Overlay will still display the state of ownership of the data in the Project, but all land and Buildings are owned by the default Stakeholder, which is the municipality.
Select the base Overlay again, and click in any location in the 3D visualization. A hover panel will appear, giving more information about that location.
Switch to a different Overlay, and click in any location in the 3D visualization again. The hover panel will again appear. The hover panel and the active Overlay are always related, so the information displayed will always relate to the Overlay displayed.
Exporing the editor
Where the user interface allows for an integral look at the data via a 3D visualization, the editing interface allows for inspecting and modifying all data, as well as access additional tools to further interact with the Session.
Ribbon tabs
All options in the editor are divided into groups of data and tools. The groups can be switched between using the tabs at the top of the ribbon. The tabs are:
- Current Situation, which defines all the base data of the Project, and the calculation models with which to analyse them.
- Future Design, which defines the tools which can be made available to explore potential future scenarios.
- Multi-scenario, which defines tools to set up and compare multiple future scenarios.
- Tools, miscellaneous tools, including recording tools, access to the API and web interface, and tools for Project templating.
- Community, which provides built-in links to other parts of the Tygron Platform ecosystem, such as the wiki for documentation, and the forum for users to exchange knowledge and ideas.
Switching between these views may also change parts of the user interface, allowing for more ways to view and interact with the 3D visualization.
Starting out with the Tygron Platform, getting acquainted with, and properly using the options available which are part of the Current Situation are the essential foundation for each use-case.