The National Flood Mitigation Data Collection Tool
The National Tool or NT
v. 2.0

USERS MANUAL


May 2005

Appendix A  System Requirements and Installation Instructions

System Requirements
 Microsoft Excel 5.0 or higher (for converting BureauNet Import files)
 Microsoft Access 2000, 2002 (XP) or 2003
 Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 or earlier 
 There are Microsoft library routines needed for this tool that are included on 
the installation CD. The installation CD must be installed on each laptop/PC on 
which the NT will be used. It is installed using the Setup.exe file. After the 
installation, the database (or .MDB file) and the folder named NFMDCT, which 
contains associated files, can be updated/replaced as necessary, but must always 
be stored together in the same location.
 While there are not strict guidelines for PC processing speeds or RAM when 
using the NT, a Pentium III processor with at least 128MB of RAM or better will 
help to facilitate the following: 1) successful import of BureauNet data when 
there are hundreds or thousands of records; 2) successful appending of records 
when there are hundreds or thousands of records; 3) faster record loading times 
when browsing through records; 4) faster display of thumbnails when browsing 
through records; and 5) faster download of pictures in the image gallery. 

 
FEMA National Flood Mitigation Data Collection Tool (NT) Version 2.0 
Installation Instructions

NOTE:  You must have permissions to the C:\Windows\System32 folder in order to 
load this application (administrative rights).

CAUTION:  Before installing any version of the NT application, make a copy of 
the existing NFMDCT folder found in C:\Program Files and save it to an external 
location like a CD-ROM or memory stick or to another location on the C:\ drive 
other than C:\Program Files\NFMDCT. For Access 2003 installation, if you select 
Remove when prompted, failure to back up your existing files previously will 
result in the loss of all your existing property records, images and documents 
during installation.

1. Insert the CD-ROM into the PC. If the installation program doesnt 
automatically start, browse to the CD-ROM and click Setup.exe.	  

2. The program will prompt whether you want to continue with the installation or 
not. If you continue with the installation and the NT application currently 
exists on the PC, the database will automatically be renamed (see Step 3).

3. The following message will display only if the NT application currently 
exists on the PC. The database on the PC will be renamed NFMDCT_OLD.MDB so the 
new database, NFMDCT.MDB, can be loaded. After the installation is done, the 
properties from the NFMDCT_OLD.MDB database can be appended into the new 
database, NFMDCT.MDB. To append properties, start the NT application; select 
Utilities from the main menu, then Append Properties.

4. The installation program will attempt to determine which version of Microsoft 
Access is on the PC.  If it cant, it will display the dialog box seen below.  
Click the appropriate button for the version to be installed.  If youre unsure 
of the Microsoft Access version you have, open Microsoft Access, click on 
Help, then About Microsoft Access.	  

5. When the Installation program begins, click OK on the first screen.  


For Access 2000/2002 installation
a. Click the computer icon on the next screen to start the installation.  

You may receive the following message for some of the files that are loaded: A 
file being copied is not newer than the one that is currently on your system.  
It is recommended that you keep your existing file. Do you want to keep this 
file?  If the file has a .DLL or .OCX extension, you should keep the file.  If 
it doesnt, you should NOT keep the file.


For Access 2003 installation

CAUTION: Before installing any version of the NT application, make a copy of the 
existing NFMDCT folder found in C:\Program Files and save it to an external 
location like a CD-ROM or memory stick or to another location on the C:\ drive 
other than C:\Program Files\NFMDCT.  For Access 2003 installation, if you select 
Remove when prompted, failure to back up your existing files previously will 
result in the loss of all your existing property records, images and documents 
during installation.

1. If the NT application already exists on the PC, the installation program may 
prompt to Repair or Remove it.  If the version on the PC is the same as the 
version on the Installation CD, choose Repair; if it isnt or you arent sure, 
choose Remove.  

CAUTION: When the remove process has finished, run Setup.exe again from the 
Installation CD to install the application, and continue from the beginning of 
these instructions. 	

2. Click Typical Installation.

You may receive the following message for some of the files that are loaded: A 
file being copied is not newer than the one that is currently on your system.  
It is recommended that you keep your existing file. Do you want to keep this 
file? If the file has a .DLL or .OCX extension, you should keep the file.  If 
it doesnt, you should NOT keep the file.	


6. The application will be loaded onto the hard drive in C:\Program    
Files\NFMDCT.  

If you cancel the installation, and a version of the NT application previously 
existed on your PC, you will have to rename the old database. Browse to the 
C:\Program Files\NFMDCT folder and rename the most recent NFMDCT_OLD.MDB file to 
NFMDCT.MDB.


Enhancements made to this version

1. Several new reports were added to the system.  You can run the reports from 
the main menu by clicking on the Reports button or you can choose View / Reports 
from the menu bar in Limited or Detailed views.	

2. New utilities were added that allow you to
a. Import Latitude/Longitude numbers and pictures
b. Select certain criteria when appending data

3. The Find options have been expanded and some bugs were fixed

4. The menu bar on the Limited and Detailed views were restructured

5. Several new fields were added

6. The View/Images screen was rewritten to allow you to view up to six thumbnail 
images per page. You can right click an image to delete it or set it as the main 
image.	

7. In Limited view you can choose whether to view the thumbnail image or not

8. Additional key functionality was added to Limited and Detailed views
a. Page down key = go to the next record	
b. Page up key = go to the previous record
c. Home key = go to the first record	
d. End key = go to the last record
 
9. The Neighborhood and Land Use options in Limited View were modified.

10. The Import BureauNet feature has been improved. You no longer have to modify 
the spreadsheet to remove VAL NOT AVAIL and ASSUMED CONDO values. The 
spreadsheet still has to be saved in Excel version 5.0 or greater. 	 

11. A new program has been added to assist in compacting the database. To 
compact the database, go to C:\Program Files\NFMDCT and double click on 
Compact_MDB.EXE. Browse to the database and select the continue button. A backup 
is always saved in the backup folder before the file is compacted. Do not 
interrupt the compact process once started.  Interrupting the process may 
corrupt the database. If corrupted, restore the file with the backup file stored 
in the backup folder.	

12. The address has been included at the top of the Limited and Detailed views

13. A new menu bar was added to each report. You can now print a range of pages 
and export the report to different formats.	

14. Several bugs were fixed