The Survey Package
Overview
The program is a “Windows” program for processing Surveying Data from “field to finish”. The system has been designed
to be as uncluttered as possible with each operation requiring a minimum of keystrokes or mouse clicks.
The display has a menu bar, a single toolbar and a graphics window. The more common processes can be activated using
buttons on the toolbar and these display menus or additional toolbars as needed. Function keys can be used to activate
operations such as determining the bearing and distance between points or a square offsets from a line.
Data can be entered from the keyboard as well as being read from various types of data recorders and a wide selection
of file types. Output such as maps, printed reports and files can be sent to the usual wide selection of devices which
are available to Windows programs.
Data is stored in “layers” and the attributes of each data item such as colour, line style, font etc., can be set
for a whole layer and/or set for a particular data item.
There are three basic data types: Points, Strings and Text.
Points have an XY coordinate, a Z value, an alphanumeric code, a symbol, a name and various status flags.
There are currently 55 symbols available and the symbol type, size and colour can be set for a particular point, or
default to the values set for the layer.
Strings can be made up from one or more lines and each line can be straight or be a section of a circular
curve. Strings can have a descriptive alphanumeric code and type such as ‘Lot’, ‘Traverse’, ‘Unannot’, ‘Road’, ‘Drain’,
‘Sewer’, ‘Kerb’, ‘Discon’, ‘Boundary’, ‘Notri’, ‘Water’ ,etc. There over 50 line styles available and the line style,
colour and thickness can be set for the whole string or be set for individual segments.
Text can be at any bearing or orientation and is located in relation to a point or an XY position.
The standard Windows fonts are available and text can also be in bold and or italic format. Text can be allocated to
any layer and the attributes (size, colour, font etc.) can be explicitly set or default to those of the layer.
Help is available both as “context sensitive” (use of Shift/F1 or click on ? at top of any dialog box and then click on the
field of interest) and from the usual Windows help menu. Tutorials are available through the help system.
Coordinate System
Coordinates in a project can be on a “local” system, or can be based on a projection of a geodetic datum such as
the Australian Geodetic Datum (AGD). The datum can be changed and the project coordinates transformed to a different
datum.
Transformations between projections (such as a change in zone) can be carried out by selecting the new projection
from a drop down list.
If a project is on a geodetic datum, information such as convergence, forward and reverse azimuth, point and line
scale factors etc., can be calculated and displayed.
Translation Files – String Formation
Information from various types of data recorders can be read in directly using the serial port of the PC and the
data can then be written to a file in a standard format.
Data can also be read from a variety of proprietary file formats such as Civilcad, DXF, Geocomp etc. There is also
provision for the user to read or write data to an ASCII file in the format that they specify.
Translation tables can be used to switch codes, symbols, layers etc during the file translation process.
Automatic stringing can be implemented for selected codes during stadia reduction, or at any time by a menu option.
This feature allows the use of existing menus in a variety of data recorders with the data and coding being translated
to a standard format on input. At the same time, selected codes can be used to control automatic stringing for break
lines, features etc.
Where output is required by a client in a particular format with different layer names and different point coding,
line types and fonts, this can be accommodated using an appropriate translation table.
Sample translation tables are provided together with instructions for building custom tables as needed.
Point Operations
Points can be generated by co-ordinate geometry using the Points toolbar which allows calculations by various
geometric combinations such as bearing and Distance, two bearings, an arc and a bearing, two arcs etc. The mouse can be
used to select two points if a bearing and or distance is to be the same as an existing line and a bearing course can be
set to a parallel offset if required. There are also facilities to scale, rotate, shift and transform points.
Design file (02)
The operations carried out for geometry calculations can be logged to a transaction file and this file can be used
to recalculate points at a later date. The transaction file is a record of the way that a subdivision was generated.
It can also be used to optimise the overall shape and block areas by adjusting some of the parameters prior to using
it to recalculate the job.
String Operations
Strings are created by first entering the string parameters such as name, type, layer, line type, colour etc., in a
drop down menu, then each point is selected either by entering the point numbers into the menu or by selecting each point
with the mouse. Circular curves are defined by selecting a centre point between each pair of points on the curve.
Once a string has been created it can be changed by adding, changing or deleting points using the mouse. Strings
can also be joined or split into two separate strings. If a string defines a For lots, a line can be dragged to minimise
the lot area.
Text Operations
Text can be attached to a point or set in any position and it can be oriented at any angle. It is added from a
floating menu which sets the parameters such as font, size, colour etc. It can be moved and rotated by dragging it with
a mouse and edited by selecting the text and changing the details in the drop down menu.
Topographic operations
A Digital terrain can be built by forming a triangular mesh over the data points. Break lines and boundary strings
can be used to influence the triangle formation. After the triangles have been formed, individual triangles can be
deleted and a boundary string automatically created to define the limit of the area of interest.
Once that the DTM has been created, contours can be displayed, sections can be extracted and volumes computed.
Volumes can be computed to a base level or be computed between two surfaces.