File Format - Fixed Stations

It is sometimes useful to set the location of a survey station to a fixed set of coordinates. For example, this is useful when you have the coordinates for the entrances of several caves and you want to tie them together into a single survey.

You can set the location of a station by placing the station name in the list of links for a survey. The station name is then followed by the coordinates for the fixed location you want to use enclosed in “square brackets” “[]”. The coordinates item begins with a “Units” command that specifies the unit that should be used for the location coordinates. The letter F means that feet are used, the letter M means that meters are used. This is followed by the east, north and vertical coordinates of the fixed location. Each item in the measurement units and the coordinates can be separated by commas, spaces or any other character that cannot be interpreted as part of the Units Command or the coordinate numbers.

#TEST1.DAT,A1[F,10.1,20.2,30.3];

#TEST2.DAT,C1[M,1.2,2.3,3.4];

The example entry links together two survey files, TEST1 and TEST2. In the first file, the station A1 is fixed to the location 10.1 east, 20.2 north and 30.3 vertical and the units are in feet. The second file has one fixed station. The coordinates for this fixed station are specified in meters.