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An Introduction to MOVES:

Custom Domains

FHWA Resource Center

EPA Office of Transportation and Air Quality

EPA-420-B-09-022
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Custom Domain Option 

z After selecting the County Scale, the user can 

select either an individual county or can create a 

“custom domain”

z A Custom Domain can be used to model a multicounty area as a single county

z MOVES database has no default values for any of 

the County Data Manager tabs, so the user must 

have all the necessary information

After going over bullets, load the runspec “training_custom.mrs” in the “Custom 

Files” folder. Go through all the tabs of the runspec to show users what the runspec

will cover, create or select a previously created output database on “General 

Output” panel, and then return to the “Geographic Bounds” panel.
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Point out that selecting the “Custom Domain” option in the “Region” section 

changes the appearance of the panel. Fill in the “County ID” and “Description”

fields. Explain that Geographic Phase-in Area covers the Rocky Mountain states 

and (if users are from that area and need to know what the GPA is) allowed the Tier 

2 gasoline sulfur requirements to be phased in over a longer timeframe. Since 

there is no default data for a custom domain, the selection of “High” or “Low”

altitude gives you the average barometric pressure of the High and Low areas in the 

default database (4,000 ft is the altitude that determines high altitude). Click the 

“Refresh” button to clear an old database name if present, followed by the 

“Enter/Edit Data” button to open the County Data Manager.
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Enter a database name and click the “Create Database” button. Tell the users to 

import all the files in the “Custom Files” folder. The instructor can walk around to 

help the users import the files at this time.
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This is what the “Database” tab will look like after all the files have been imported. 
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I/M Editor

z I/M Editor allows users to ignore default programs, 

add new programs, or alter multiple attributes of 

listed I/M programs

z MOVES has default I/M programs for most counties 

that have programs that will be active unless the 

user chooses to ignore them

– Default I/M programs may be incorrect, so a user should check 

the I/M programs rather than rely on the defaults

z There are no default I/M programs for a custom 

domain

IM Program attributes that can be altered: Process, Pollutant, Fuel, Regulatory 

Class, Applicable Model Years, Frequency, Compliance Factor, Test Type, and 

Test Standard
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Go to the “I/M” tab and the users can open it by clicking the button. 
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As you can see, for a custom domain there are no default programs. We will create 

a new one by clicking the “Generate New and Replacement Records” button.
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The IM Program ID, Pollutant, and Reg Class fields required input/selections. 

Multiple selections can be highlighted by holding the control (multiple, unconnected 

selections) or shift keys (everything between selections is highlighted). The County, 

Year, and Fuel fields were already highlighted because there is only one option.

Don’t forget the IM Program ID entry enter 10
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All drop down menus were blank. Select the following frequency, test 

type/standard, model years and provide value for compliance factor. Note that the 

user can make illogical selections (Exhaust OBD Test Type but Evap Cap Test 

Standard) and we plan on fixing this, but for now users must make correct selection 

themselves. Click OK.
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Highlight an IM program record to use the buttons numbered above.

1) “Edit Selected Records” button brings up the same screen as in previous slide 

which allows the user to change the model years, frequency, compliance factor, and 

test type/standard. Users should not select multiple IM programs to edit if any of 

these attributes are different as the changes made will be applied to all programs 

selected. For these reasons, the user generally should be instructed to edit just one 

record at a time. 

2 and 3) Users can try the “Ignore I/M” and “Use I/M” to see that the “Ignore”

column changes when you click the buttons.

4) Export button allows the user to save the selected record in an Excel file. There 

is no template button, so a user would need to generate a new IM program, select 

it, and export it to know what the table structure should look like to be able to import. 

MAKE SURE USER GIVES EXPORT FILE NEW NAME AND DOES NOT 

OVERWRITE ANY OF THE IMPORT FILES.

5) Delete button clears the selected records. MAKE SURE DELETE IS DONE 

LAST SO THE USER DOESN’T HAVE TO RECREATE A PROGRAM TO TEST 

THE OTHER BUTTONS. 
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After records have been deleted, user can import a set of programs from the 

“training_custom_im.xls” file. They should select the IM tab. If desired/time allows, 

the users can import the other tabs to see how bulk changes can be made to 

multiple programs at once. The users should also be told that they should consult 

Appendix A of the user guide for more information about what should be entered in 

each field. 

The general rule is that the “shortName” from the corresponding default database 

table is used, although that is not true for all attributes. 

The warning message worksheet has different IM programs with all other attributes 

are the same, but one of the records is ignored. 

The warning message can be turned into an error message by selecting the 

program being ignored (Program ID=11) and clicking the “Use I/M” button. The 

Editor will also allow the user to generate the error message if they use the 

“Generate New and Replacement Records” button, but the editor will not allow 

importation if both programs are active. This is an advantage to using the “Import”

button instead of the “Generate New and Replacement Records” button.
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After importing the IM tab, this is what the screen will look like. Click Exit (at right of 

Editor) to return to the CDM, then Done (bottom right of the CDM) to return to the 

“Geographic Bounds” panel. No record of changes made to I/M programs will 

appear in the Log on the Database panel of the CDM.
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After use of CDM/IM Editor is complete, make sure the correct database is entered 

in the “Domain Input Database” area of the “Geographic Bounds” panel and then 

you can execute the runspec.
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County Data Manager and I/M Editor –

What does the future hold?

z Multiple Runspec Creator tool being developed to 

assist with conducting multiple County and Project 

runs

z Barometric Pressure can be entered for Custom 

Domain rather than using averages

z I/M was first pre-processing tool developed; it will 

be changed so that its operation is similar to the 

other CDM tabs