Improvements for Carlson Survey 2006

[General Commands] [Survey Commands] [Data Conversions]
[Surface Commands] [SurvNET Module]

General Commands

• NEW Store Project Archive – Saves a drawing file and associated data files to a .zip file for backup or transfer.
• NEW Extract Project Archive – Extracts drawing and data files from a .zip archive file.
• NEW Station Equations - Added support for station equations in routines that use centerlines.
• File Selection –Added functions to browse for the current folder and manage the folders available in the recent folders list.
• Report Formatter – Added output to current session of Excel, mirrored output to Excel, spreadsheet preview with copy/paste, merge to combine current and old reports, export to XML format files and added controls for totaling methods of user-defined attributes.
• Configure – Added loading and saving of configuration settings to a setting file.
• Draw 2D Polyline – Completely rewrote this routine to combine options from several separate polyline commands and add several New features.
• Draw 3D Polyline – Completely rewrote this routine to combine options from several separate polyline commands and add several New features.
• Fillet 3D - Added ability to span multiple segments on 3D polyline to fit fillet.
• 3D Viewer Window – Added elevation range shading and an image inspector to report elevations of highlighted entities. Added a 3D clipping plane that is controlled by a slider. Added functions to save and load viewing positions.
• HOT Shrink-wrap Entities - Added method for spanning entities with gaps and added support for 3D Faces.
• Entities To Polylines – Added support for converting splines and ellipses into polylines.
• NEW Erase by Closed Polyline – New command to clip and erase inside or outside the selected polyline.
• NEW Erase Outside – New command to erase entities outside the specified window.
• NEW Block Explode – New command to explode blocks while keeping values of attributes.
• Change Text Width – Added support for changing width of block attributes.
• Change Text Font – Added dialog interface for selecting font from a list of styles defined in the drawing.
• Break By Polyline – Added support for open as well as closed polylines to break against.
• NEW Edit Polyline Section – New command for redrawing a section of a polyline.
• Edit Polyline Vertex - Added station of current vertex and added Next and Previous buttons for incrementing the vertex to edit. Added option to screen pick New vertex position.
• Extend By Distance – Added option for distance by feet-inches units. Added support for polylines with arcs. Made auto-zoom center an optional setting.
• Join Nearest - Added option to apply maximum deflection angle to joining linework.
• 3D Entity To 2D - Added support for point entities. Updates both point entity elevation and attribute label.
• Drawing Inspector – In elevation mode, the elevation is now interpolated for 3D faces.
• Draw Arc/Curve Commands – Routines now input angles in dd.mmss format instead of decimal degrees.
• NEW Remove Duplicate Polylines – New routine to removes polylines with identical points.
• NEW Check Elevation Range – New polyline utility that checks whether the polyline vertices elevations are within the specified elevation range. Polylines with vertices outside the range are highlighted and can be set to zero elevation.
• Change Elevations – Added option to select text label to get elevation value.
• NEW 2D Align – New routine that performs align making sure the control points have zero elevation.
• LandXML Import/Export – New user-interface for transferring multiple files at a time. Also added support for transferring cross section data and survey raw data.

Survey Commands

• Data Collection – For downloading coordinates, added an option for point protect to check the coordinate file for existing data before writing the data collector point. For SurvCE transfer, added support for transfer via USB using ActiveSync and added a routine to upload a point number range of a coordinate file. Also for SurvCE, downloading rw5 files will create a second copy with a .sc5 extension to serve as an archive.
• Field To Finish – Added new // special code that appends the full name of the second code.
• Edit-Process Raw File – Added processing option for backsight reciprocals whether to average elevation or elevation and distances. Added processing options for store point records whether to always store, never store or store only when missing in the coordinate file. Also for store points, new process option to hold store point coordinates and report differences from measurements to these points. For reporting coordinate comparisons, added process option for check points based on a code in point description that includes the point number. After processing, added option to run Field-To-Finish for the range of processed points. On processing with adjustments, improved detection of closing measurements for better defaults of closure settings. Added a report option to use a tabular report viewer that groups sections of report data under separate tabs for quick viewing. Added report options for point protect and store point conflicts. For direct-reverse processing, reports difference between horizontal turned angles from FD-BD and FR-BR and added separate tolerance setting for these angle differences. For the graphics view, added an option whether to show the sideshot data. Added routines to create point groups for all the points in the raw file, for traverse points only or for sideshot points only. Backsight records will now keep both the backsight point and azimuth. When both values exist, azimuth is used. Added option to convert conflicting store point records into notes. For multiple measurement data, added option for reporting residuals and line numbers and added a method for averaging the measured distances. Added option to import coordinates from the CRD file by point number. Added a Go To line number routine. Added more color controls. Added an option for decimal seconds in the direct-reverse report. Added support for FD and BD only records. Added a setting for a special code in the descriptions of measurement records to identify the closing and angle balance measurements. Added a routine to export the GPS latitude/longitude/elevation data to a text/ascii file.
• Point Protect – When point conflict occurs, added option to use next available point number instead of last in coordinate file.
• Station Polyline - Added New options to station the slope distance for 3D polylines, option whether to flip labels for twist screen, option to specify the description for created points, option to set the text offset distance, option whether to label the PC stations and settings for the tick sizes of different station types. Added options to locate and label PI points.
• Label Station-Offset – Added option to label station and offset on same line.
• Calculate Offsets – Added ability to create point notes for the station-offset and to include point notes in the report.
• Enter Deed Description – Added option to define curve by tangent-out and arc length. Added option to convert distances between feet and meters.
• NEW Deed Correlation – New command that takes a set of field and design/deed points and creates an inverse report like radial stakeout for each pair of points. Includes routine to find the best point to hold and the best point to rotate to.
• Legal Description – Added support for starting series up to beginning point and added support for reference points to other points besides beginning point. Added separate settings for curve radial-in and radial-out. Added routines to load and save the legal description settings.
• Cut Sheet - Added option to report cut/fill in feet and inches. For road design surfaces, added support for using Template Point Profiles and Template Point Centerlines. For point selection, added option to screen select points and added a button for selecting point groups.
• NEW Edit-Process Level Data – New command with spreadsheet editor for entering level data. Level calculations are updated as data is entered. Includes processing and reporting.
• Inverse – Added setting to control the number of decimal places on distances. Added option to report elevation difference.
• NEW Benchmark – New command to calculate the occupy point elevation or instrument height from a measurement to a reference elevation.
• NEW Building Offset Extensions – New command to create extension points from corners of building polylines at specified offsets.
• Polyline Report - Added the option to report elevations and slopes. Added support for using the report formatter.
• Compare Points - Added loading and saving of point ranges to a point number file.
• Intersection routines – Added the option for offsets in the bearing-bearing, bearing-distance and distance-distance intersection routines.
• NEW Line By Angle-Distance – New command to draw a line from an occupied point at a given angle and distance where the angle format supports the standard 1-9 angle-bearing codes.
• Resection - Added option to report residuals.
• Coordinate File Utilities – Added function to set the elevation for a range of points.
• Point Group Manager – Added the ability to import filters from point group manager settings of other coordinate files.
• Align Local Coordinates - Added optimize function for which control points to use to minimize residuals.
• Radial Stakeout – Added options to screen select setup points and stakeout target points.
• Deed and Polyline To RW5 File – Curve data is recorded as note records in the raw file.
• Process Deed File - Added ability to define non-tangent curve direction by PC to Radius angle. Also for curve editing, added delta angle field.
• Line/Curve Tables – The current line and curve table numbers are remembered between drawings. Added the option to have leaders on the linework labels.
• Edit Point Attributes – Double-clicking on a point entity will launch the Edit Point Attribute command for that point.
• Translate/Rotate/Scale/Align Points – Added option to select screen entities to transform in addition to the coordinate file points.
• Translate Points - Added option to define the translate by angle and distance values.
• Scale Points - Added routine to calculate the combined grid and elevation scale factor for ground to grid or grid to ground from selected points. Includes a report feature that shows the scale factor for each point and the averaged scale factor.
• Edit-Multiple Point Attributes - Added ability to set the symbol, layers and attribute layout for the selected points.
• NEW 3 Radius Curve Series – New command to fit a series of 3 curves with different radii between 2 tangents.
• NEW Define Lot Attributes – New command to define attributes for lot and points and lot types.
• Input-Edit Lot File – Added import and export between the lot file and a Microsoft Access database.
• HOT Lot File Report – Added Check Lot routine that reports errors in areas, unequal radius or missing points. Area errors determined by assignments of surround lots for interior lots. Also added the ability to track the original lot coordinates and an Original Coordinates Report that reports the transformation from the current back to original coordinates. Added option to report with decimal seconds on the angles and to include point descriptions and elevations in the report.
• NEW Lot Inspector – New command for showing the lot name, area, lot number and coordinate file in real-time while moving the pointer inside lot perimeters. Lots can be edited by picking inside lot perimeter.
• NEW Lot File Utilities – New commands to import/export lot files to Microsoft Access databases.
• Export Text/ASCII File – Added a method for selecting the points to export from the screen.
• Sliding Side Area/Hinged Area – Rewrote the points method to simplify prompting. Added support for using point numbers. For sliding slide area, added method to specify by remainder area.
• Area By Closed Polylines – Added option to select exclusion areas.
• NEW Bearing-Area Cutoff – New command to divide a tract along a bearing to find a specified area amount.
• Annotate Defaults - Added option to drop trailing zeros on distance labels.
• Annotate With Leaders - Added options for multi-segment leaders and whether to align the label horizontal to the current view or parallel to the nework.
• HOT Auto-Annotate – New method to avoid label overlaps by applying rules. Added options to set the label prefixes for curve annotation. Improved the layout options to support any combo of labels. Added the option to have different layouts by linework layer.
• NEW Check Label Overlaps – New command to check drawing for overlapping annotation labels. Overlaps can be fixed by applying rules or manually.
• NEW Draw Text On Tangent – New command to draw aligned text tangent to the selected position on an arc.
• Label Arc – Added setting for labels inside or outside of arc separately for each field.
• NEW Label Lat/Lon – New command to label latitude/longitude from the current grid coordinates.
• NEW Custom Arc Label Formatter – New command with complete control for labeling arcs.
• Draw Endpoint Leaders - Added option for arrow away from endpoint towards annotation.
• NEW Custom Label Formatter – New command with flexible layout of the angle and distance labels.
• NEW Label Elevation Along Polylines - Added support for reading polyline vertice elevations and added option for maximum offset to label.
• Offset Dimensions - Added option for arrow only on end of line.
• Building Dimensions - Added option to label in feet and inches.
• Stack Label Arc - Added option to align text by chord angle.
• Draw Grid - Added option to grid in latitude/longitude and a new layout style with spilt coordinates.
• Draw Legend - Added option to make linetype and hatching left justified.
• Create/Update Point Table - Added option to select points from the screen.
• NEW Label Curb/Flow Elevations – New command for labeling the elevations for selected curb/flow points along an alignment.
  
  

Data Conversions

• NEW Benchmark – Added support for importing Benchmark binary coordinates files.
• Fieldbook – For exporting raw data to Fieldbook format, added a user-definable code conversion lookup table and added support for multiple active linework by inserting the required Fieldbook codes.
• NEW FL DOT – In Edit-Process Raw Data, added routine to export FL DOT .OBS raw data.
• Geodimeter - Added options to strip decimals from descriptions and use info code in point description. Also added support for more methods of direct-reverse collection.
• Geoid Support - Added support for USA Geoid 2003. For Geoid 99, added support for Hawaii and Puerto Rico.
• NEW Kentucky State Plane - Added support for the new Kentucky single state plane zone.
• Leica GSI – Added option for converting between US and International feet units.
• NEW LDT Description Keys – Added routine in Field To Finish for importing Land Development Desktop Description Keys into a Field To Finish code table.
• NEW MOSS – In Edit-Process Raw Data, added routine to export MOSS raw data.
• NEW PacSoft – New routine to import PacSoft binary coordinate data.
• NEW SDMS – In Edit-Process Raw Data, added import and export routines for SDMS raw data. In Write Text/ASCII File, added export of point data to SDMS ctl files.
• NEW Simplicity – Added Simplicity format coordinate files as one of the directly support coordinate file formats in all SurvCADD routines.
• NEW TDS – Added routine in Field To Finish for importing TDS descriptor codes.
• NEW Topcon – New command to export a triangulation surface to a Topcon TN3 file.
• NEW Trimble – In Edit-Process Raw Data, added routine to import Trimble raw data (.dc format).
• NEW VA DOT – In Edit-Process Raw Data, added routine to export VA DOT .TOP raw data.
• NEW Zeiss – In Edit-Process Raw Data, added routine to import Zeiss raw data.

Surface Commands

• Binary Triangulation File – Added a binary triangulation file format (.tin) which is twice as fast to load and save and half the size of the previous triangulation file format (.flt). The old format is still supported.
• Triangulate & Contour – Increased the triangulation speed by around 50% and improved the memory efficiency. Inclusion and exclusion perimeters are now embedded into the triangulation instead of just clipping the triangulation. Triangulation errors are displayed in a report dialog with the option to highlight graphically and mark in the drawing. Added New methods to interpolate breaklines for ridges, valleys and summits. For labeling contours, added option to align labels to face uphill.
• NEW Contour From TIN File – New command to contour from the surface stored in a triangulation file.
• Contour Labels - Added an option to use text wipeout and not break the contour polyline. When using the previous style of breaking the contour, added an option to set the gap size between the text label and the contour polyline.
• Make Grid File – For triangulation modeling, added the option to apply triangulation subdivision to make smoother grid surfaces.
• HOT Design Pad Template – Added support for modeling with triangulation plus option to merge the pad with the original triangulation file. For the different slopes option, there is a graphic dialog for assigning the different slope segments.
• Plot 3D Grid File – Added option to draw a legend when coloring by elevation.
• Two Surface Volumes - Added the maximum cut and fill depths to the report.
• NEW Quick Profile - New command to create profiles in one step. The profile centerline can be defined by picking points or selecting a polyline. Includes a feature to adjust the alignment for dragging the alignment polyline and updating the profile view in real-time. Also added the option to display multiple surfaces from surface model files.
• Input-Edit Profile - Added option to show a 2nd profile as reference. For road profiles, added dynamic report of sag-crest points as well as showing the points graphically. Also for roads, added function to set the vertical curve to pass through a point. Changed profile data entry to use a spreadsheet.
• Draw Profile – For drawing on profile sheets, added the option to label match lines, added the option to put all the sheets in thesame layout tab, and enabled the 1:1 scale option to plot on the sheet layout. Plus New sheet lower x,y position setting and option to select centerline by file. Added the option to prefix all profile layer names with the profile file name. For crossing profiles, added the option to draw as rectangles instead of ellipses. For sewer profiles, added option to label the manhole data along one horizontal line.

SurvNET Module

• The 3-d model of least squares adjustment is now supported. The main advantage of this adjustment model is that it is the preferred method of adjusting GPS vectors with total station data.
• GPS vector data can now be incorporated with total station data in a single adjustment. Vector files from Leica, and Thales can be input. GPS files in the SiteNet format can be input.
• As part of the preprocessing process traverse closures can be computed. Closures for loop traverses and point to point traverses with or without angle closures can be computed. Multiple loops in the same raw file can be computed.
• As part of preprocessing GPS loop closures can be computed.
• The user has the option to compute unadjusted preliminary coordinates.
• A NEW blunder detection method has been implemented that is effective in detecting if the same point number has been used for two different points. This method will also flag other raw data problems.
• Another blunder detection method has been implemented that is very effective in isolating a single blunder, distance or angle in a network. This method does not require that there be a lot of redundancy, but is effective if there is only one blunder in the data set.
• Another blunder detection method has been implemented that can isolate multiple blunders, distance or angle in a network. This method does require that there be a lot of redundancy in the network to effectively isolate the multiple blunders.
• Differential level networks and loops can be adjusted using the network least squares program.
• Geoid modeling is now used in the least squares program. Users can choose between the Geoid99 or the Geoid03 model. The user can alternately enter the project geoid separation. The separation is used when combining GPS vectors with total station data and is also used in the computation of the elevation factor in the 2D model adjustment.
• Added description code to identify duplicate points with different point numbers.
• The speed of the least squares adjustment has been improved.
• The preprocessing of the data has been sped up and better preprocessing error messages are generated.
• The user can specify the confidence interval from 50 to 99. Previously the confidence interval was fixed at 99.