Issues/Questions from the MIP Studies Workflow Open Conference Call on June 12, 2008 Issue/Question On page 7 of DFIRM Upload Guidance June 2008 you tell us we can no longer eFTP to FAFS. This means that I cannot “practice” DFIRM DB QA validation with a visual review of Final Map products. It seems like it would be in everyone’s best interest to have these “practice” reviews continue to be available. Answer Users can continue to “practice” validation by using Tools & Links as outlined in the Other Tools section – Tools & Links. Once you reach the Produce Final Map Products task, you should then upload your entire submission package for official review. This ensures that the data is entered in the MIP and the user can continue through the MIP workflow. Issue/Question Why is there a time difference in receiving a response from FAFS depending on whether I upload through Tools & Links versus the MIP workflow? Answer MIP takes all submissions and places the packages on a separate server and QA/QC Pro (FAFS’ tool) pulls from that server to work on the submissions. There may be large submissions ahead of your submission package which delays your submission results whether you submit through Tools & Links or the MIP workflow. In addition, earlier in June FAFS experienced short outages that may have contributed to the response delay. Issue/Question Will the DFIRM Tools ever send the submission directly to FAFS anymore? Answer DFIRM Tools will no longer automatically submit to FAFS anymore. Currently, data will be exported to the K drive, but the user must manually move the submission to J drive and use the MIP to send the submission to FAFS. With a future upgrade, data will be stored on J drive, but the user must return to the MIP to start the validation process. For more information for on DFIRM submissions, please refer to the guidance document posted at hazards.fema.gov > MIP User Care > Guides and Documentation > User Guidance > DFIRM Upload Guidance June 2008. Issue/Question Louisiana does not have counties, but has parishes. When uploading to FAFS, these submissions fail because the FAFS system which only looks for county information and doesn’t recognize a parish. I normally submit MIP Help tickets. Typically MIP Help just passes that report and allows us to continue through the workflow, but I was wondering if it is going to be addressed. Answer Until we can determine a solution with FAFS, please continue to submit to MIP Help for the manual workaround. The MIP team will work with FAFS to determine whether we can incorporate this change in a future release. Issue/Question The FAFS system has issues when more than one copy of a metadata file is included in the submission. Answer To avoid these issues, only include one metadata file and be sure to place it in the root directory. Issue/Question I used to receive an error if a .txt version of the Metadata file was included. Is this still the case? Answer MIP used to have a problem accepting the .txt file, but that has been fixed. The MIP requires the .xml file, but FAFS recommends also including the .txt file. Issue/Question Has FAFS been briefed on all of the changes for PM 49 (appendix K graphic changes). Answer Yes, FAFS has been briefed and have the procedure memorandum. They are prepared to address the resulting changes in their visual inspection process and will be updating their visual QC checklist appropriately. To clarify, PM 49 only affects visual, not auto reviews. Issue/Question I have generated my DFIRM database for preliminary review, but don’t want to generate the QR3 panels until I have passed FAFS review. Given that the next task is the national QA review, what is the best way to submit my panels to the RMC? Answer Because panels are not required for the prelim submission to FAFS, the user has two options for submitting the panels for national review: 1.Once you have received a passing review from FAFS on the DFIRM database submission, upload the panels through the MIP workflow. This will require another review by FAFS before you can complete the task. Once the task is completed, the workflow will move to the next task and the panels will be available for download. 2.Send the panels by eFTP or CD to the RMC. Discuss this option with your RMC before sending any images. Issue/Question When sending panels for national DFIRM DB QA, do I need to send all of the panels, and the RMC chooses the 10% to review, or do I choose the 10% and send just those to the RMC for review? Answer The user should submit all panels for review and the reviewer will select the 10% to review. Issue/Question Recently I was denied accessing the J drive through Citrix. Are you aware of any issues with Citrix access? Answer These situations will have to be looked at on a case by case basis. Please contact MIP Help if you have this issue. Issue/Question I am trying to enter in cost and schedule information for a task that I have not actually started. Is this correct? Answer Since the work has not yet begun, you should not need to update cost and schedule information for that task. Only update status for the tasks you have started. When that status information has been entered, click Update Status. If you try to click Continue, you will receive an error that the MIP is looking for start date, cost and schedule information for all tasks. Issue/Question I am in the Mange Post-Preliminary task. When I put in 95 % complete I get an error saying I must put in 100% because the Submit MSC Deliverable and Distribute LFD tasks are complete. If I change the % complete to 100% and $ amount, then I get an error saying that the Actual End Date must be the same as the Effective Date or later. My effective date is 8/25/2008 so I cannot enter this in because it is a future date. Answer Currently, the MIP requires the user to enter 100% complete when the Submit MSC Deliverable and Distribute LFD tasks are complete. But the user will also receive a validation error when the user tries to enter an Actual End Date earlier than the Actual Effective Date. The MIP team has created a DR and will look into addressing this issue. Issue/Question I just uploaded one county through the Studies Workflow. How should I continue? Answer Use the Continue button to move to the next step, provided the submission has passed. Issue/Question Will there be a point where Process Admin can assign more than one task at a time to another user to transfer workflow activities? This would be helpful when I have 5-6 tasks that I want to assign to a user. Answer MIP Team added a Change Request to the list and will look into feasibility and available resources about adding this feature.