FOMS Menu 340 (Waypoints and Facilities Program)

Modified on: Mon, 12 Feb, 2024 at 6:10 PM

The Waypoints and Facilities data file is a key navigation file for FOMS. The file contains information on more than 30,000 worldwide airway points, including data such as: identification, location, frequency, local magnetic variation, and VOR/NDB/Enroute/Terminal.

Given the number of changes that are made by the various regulatory bodies on a routine basis, it is highly recommended to keep this file updated at all times.

When called up, this program will display a blank file and a command line sequence for mode selection.

The modes available are:

Add
Edit
Delete
Video
Screen
Hardcopy
Quit

Add Mode

Field	Description
AIRAC Cycle / Cycle	Choose the AIRAC Cycle to use, see AIRAC Cycle for more information.
Waypoint Ident	Enter the identification letters for the waypoint or facility. Up to 11 characters may be used.
Country Code	Enter the ICAO country Code for the country in which the waypoint is located.
Type of Waypoint	Enter one of the following identifiers to indicate what type of waypoint this is: <E> for Enroute (i.e., a waypoint not marked by any radio beacon) <N> for Non-Directional Beacon <V> for VHF beacon (e.g., VOR) <T> for a Terminal beacon (e.g., an outer marker beacon) Note: Ident, Country Code and Type are required to uniquely identify every waypoint of airway marker beacon, other than terminal beacons. There may be several waypoints with duplicate identifiers, but not for a waypoint of the same type within the same country code. Since there are so many beacons associated with approaches to airports, (e.g., Outer Markers, Inner Markers, etc.) they must be further identified by the airport with which they are associated, to avoid duplication and ambiguity. Terminal waypoints may not be used in airways and direct legs. They may be used within SIDs and STARs (so long as they are not the transition waypoint, which must, by definition, be on an airway).
Terminal ICAO	If you have indicated that the waypoint is of the Terminal type, then you will be required to enter the ICAO identifier of the airport with which the waypoint or facility is associated.
Latitude	Enter the latitude of the waypoint, with North latitudes being positive, and South latitudes being negative. Note: Seconds of arc must be converted to tenths of minutes. Example: N52° 14’ 14” = 52.142 (14 seconds = 0.2 minutes) S14° 27’ 26” = -14.274
Longitude	Enter the longitude of the waypoint, with West longitudes being positive, and East longitudes being negative. Note: Seconds of arc must be converted to tenths of minutes. Example: W 46° 29’ 37” = 46.296 E 17° 39’ 14” = -17.392
Local Variation	Enter the local magnetic variation to the nearest whole degree. West variation is, by convention, positive; East variation is negative. Example: For variation 10W enter 10 For variation 15E enter -15
Class	Enter the codes for the class of Navaids for the waypoint.
Usage	Enter the usage code for the waypoint; low <L>, high <H> or both <B>.
HAR Applicability	Enter the waypoint type as it applies to HAR; <P> for pitch, <C> for catch, <B> for both and blank for neither.
Frequency	For VORs and NDBs, enter the appropriate frequency. The program will accept values between 100 and 1999, including decimals for VOR frequencies.
DME Elevation	Enter the elevation of the DME transmitter in hundreds of feet above sea level, e.g., 508 feet ASL = 005
FIR/UIR	These fields display the flight information region and the upper flight information region. They are display-only and populate automatically based on the latitude and longitude entries.
ATC Mandatory	Y - display in item 15 (but do not force TAS/FL) N - normal F - display in item 15 and display speed / altitude if in cruise. Note: Setting the ATC Mandatory field to Y/F will not cause waypoints to display if they are inside a SID/STAR; transition waypoints will be shown.
Boundary	Options are yes <Y> or no <N>. Indicate whether the waypoint lies on an FIR boundary
Name	Enter the waypoint name, if applicable.
FMS Alias	Enter the FMS alias, if applicable.
Date	This is a display-only field which shows the last date that the record was edited.
Source	Enter your initials to indicate who was responsible for entering this record.

Edit Mode

To edit a record:

Select <E> from the Command Line prompt.
Enter the identifier of the waypoint you want to edit. If there is no ambiguity (i.e., if there is not more than one waypoint with that ID) then the record will be displayed. If there is some ambiguity, then the cursor will move to the Country Code field.
You may use the <?> Search function. If some ambiguity still exists after you have selected the Country Code, then you will be required to enter the Type as well.

Note: Since the Country Code and Type fields are the key part–they may not be edited. Should they require change, (ie. a VOR has been decommissioned, but a waypoint still exists at that location with the same ID), then you must delete the initial record, and add the new one.

To escape from Edit mode, you may enter <Ctrl>-E, and then make the appropriate response to the confirmation prompt.

Delete Mode

As in the case of Edit mode, you must:

Enter the ID of the waypoint, followed by the Country Code and Type if required to resolve ambiguity.
The record will be displayed on screen, and you will be prompted to confirm that you do really want to delete it.

Note: As a precaution, the program will not allow the deletion of a waypoint that is used in any city-pair route, SID, STAR, ENTRY, or EXIT. In the background, a checking routine will be completed which will generate a usage report to the system printer if the waypoint is used at all. Only if no usage is found will the waypoint be removed from the data file. You must remove all usage of the waypoint (by editing the affected routes), and then re-delete the waypoint.

Video Mode

The Video mode allows the operator to review the file data for a single waypoint or facility, and to then alphabetically step through the data file, record by record.

When this mode is entered, a blank will be displayed and the prompt line will request the desired waypoint identification.
Resolve any ambiguity with the search function, or by entering country code and type.
The program will search the data file for the selected record and display its contents. If the record cannot be found, a warning will be sounded.
Pressing <Enter> will display the next available record (i.e., next record in alphabetical order).
Once the record has been displayed on the screen, you may use the up or down arrow keys to step alphabetically through the data file to view other records.
Should you pass either the top or bottom limits of the data file, you will be returned to the command line screen.

Screen Mode

This mode allows the operator to review a range of waypoints. It is a quick and convenient way to examine which waypoints are in the data file.

Entering <S> from the command line will display this mode which will display a request for identification of the range you want to view.
The entire data file can be called by entering A-Z, or you may specify any portion of it, e.g., A - AC.
The prompt line will allow you to confirm your entries before proceeding.

Note: Up to 17 waypoints can be displayed on the screen at one time. If the range you have requested has more than 17 records, then pressing <Enter> will call up the next page.

Pressing <Enter> when the final page is on-screen will return you to the command line screen to select another mode.
The Quit option will allow you to escape from any intermediate page.

Hardcopy Mode

This mode allows you to produce a printout of the entire data file, or any portion of it.

The initial screen will request the range of waypoint files you want to have printed.
To print the entire data file simply press <Enter> twice. The default values of A to Z will automatically be inserted by the program.
For any other range, enter the waypoint identification codes for the first and last waypoints. Example: Entering YTR and YYZ will display all waypoints with identifiers that lie alphabetically between those two.

Note: A single letter response will produce a report on all waypoints with identification codes beginning with the selected letter. For example, entering from <C> to <C> will call up a report on all waypoints from CAAAAA to CZZZZZ inclusive.

Quit Mode

Entering <Q> at the initial command line will return a prompt line which will allow you to enter the program number you want, or by pressing <Enter>, to return to the last used menu screen.

Note: The following descriptions represent the typical access and privileges afforded to users designated as Dispatch Managers/Supervisors. Users with dispatcher privileges will have limited access to a subset of the screens presented.