Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Survey Data Sources
Survey data can come in several forms, depending on the hardware and/or
software used to create it. Here are a few of the most common forms:
Field Book File
This is considered a legacy format unique to Autodesk products
such as Land Desktop and older versions of Civil 3D. Many surveyors have moved
on from field topic files but have done so fairly recently. For that reason, you
might still find them to be quite common. One difference with field topic files is
that they can store the measurements exactly as they were taken in the field. The
other formats listed here contain points that have been reduced to coordinates.
landXMl File
Many civil engineering and surveying programs can export data
in the form of LandXML, including Civil 3D. This nonproprietary format enables
data to be exchanged between programs created by different software companies.
Point File
The point file is probably the most generic and universally accepted
way of delivering point data. This type of file is plain text and can be opened in
a program like Microsoft Notepad. Regardless of age, cost, or origin, nearly all
surveying and civil engineering programs are capable of producing this type of file.
Points From Drawing
With this option, you can open a drawing that already
contains points and add them to your survey database. Remember that the survey
database is stored outside the drawing, so the points you see in the drawing are
a representation of what is stored there.
PNEZD represents
the order of the data
columns in the text
file: Point number,
Northing, Easting, Z
coordinate (elevation),
and Description.
6.
For Files Of Type, select the Text/Template/Extract File (*.txt) option.
Then select
Topo Survey.txt
, and click Open.
7.
Under Specify Point File Format, select PNEZD (Comma Delimited).
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8.
Click Next. In the Specify Network dialog box, note that <none> is
selected for the current network. Click Next.
Measurements can be
linked so that accuracy
can be adjusted across
the entire project simul-
taneously. The survey
data in this exercise
does not contain any of
these relationships, so
no network is needed.
9.
In the Import Options dialog box, check the boxes next to Process
Linework During Import and Insert Survey Points.
10.
Verify that Current Figure Prefix Database and Current Linework
Code Set are both set to Sample.
11.
Click Finish.
