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RCAGIS Frequently Asked Questions

  1. How much does RCAGIS cost?

    The RCAGIS application and source code that is being distributed on this web page are downloadable free of charge. However, there are several requirements for RCAGIS to be used, see the next two questions:

  2. What are the software, operating system, and hardware requirements to use the RCAGIS source code?

    Minimum Recommended Hardware: 233 MHz Pentium II class processor with 64 MB of RAM. The more the merrier.

    Operating System: RCAGIS has been tested under Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 (service pack 3 and higher), and Windows 2000.

    Software:

    1. The source code is Microsoft Visual Basic 5.0 format. Visual Basic 5 or 6 will be required to load and compile the RCAGIS projects. RCAGIS was written using VB 5, but used two version 6 OCX's, which you will need if you are using VB 5. These are comdlg32.ocx, and mscomctl.ocx.

    2. RCAGIS uses MapObjects 2.0a from Environmental Systems Research Institute (http://www.esri.com). A MapObjects developers kit has to be installed in order to compile RCAGIS. All applications compiled and distributed using MapObjects are subject to ESRI's licensing requirements, which currently entail a royalty of $100 to ESRI for each executable created and distributed.

    3. Crescent Software's (http://www.progress.com) Quickpak Pro components and functions were used a few places in RCAGIS. These components (such as a calendar tool) are not strictly required, but their functionality would have to be replaced before RCAGIS will work properly.

    4. Crystal Reports 7.0 from Seagate Software (http://www.seagatesoftware.com) was used to develop the report generation engine of RCAGIS.

    5. To run the RCAGIS Analysis Tools, you will need the CrimeStat spatial statistics software package, developed by Ned Levine and Associates through a grant from the National Institute of Justice. It is freely available from the following URL:
      http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/crimestat.html

  3. What are the requirements to install and test RCAGIS-WR (Wide Release)?

    Minimum Recommended Hardware: 233 MHz Pentium II class processor with 64 MB of RAM.

    Operating System: RCAGIS has been tested under Windows 95, Windows 98 , Windows NT 4.0 (service pack 3 and higher), and Windows 2000.

    Software:

    RCAGIS-WR includes a complete installer to configure RCAGIS on your system. RCAGIS-WR also includes sample data so that you can test RCAGIS without having to import or configure any data.

    The key thing to note is that RCAGIS-WR does not include the ESRI MapObjects run-time engine, thus enabling the Department of Justice to distribute the application free of royalty requirements. This does mean, however, that RCAGIS will not run until you do one of two things:

    1. purchase MapObjects 2.0 from ESRI and install it on your system, or

    2. download the free MapObjects trial edition from http://www.esri.com/software/mapobjects/download.html and install it.

    Installing the trial edition of MapObjects will enable you to test RCAGIS under the restrictions imposed by ESRI for the MO Trial Edition.

    RCAGIS-WR also does not include the CrimeStat spatial statistics software package developed by Ned Levine and Associates through a grant from the National Institute of Justice. CrimeStat is used by RCAGIS as the statistics engine for the advanced analysis tools. CrimeStat is freely available for download the following link: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/crimestat.html.

  4. Will RCAGIS improvements and updates be posted to this Web site?

    Unfortunately, no. As of September 30th, 2000, the GIS Staff is being dramatically reduced in size due to budget cuts, and official development of RCAGIS will cease. Since the source code is public domain, other individuals are certainly welcome to continue to work on their own enhancements of RCAGIS, within the bounds of the licenses associated with components used within RCAGIS.

 

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