3. Create and modify charts

Owned by Tore Sannes (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Oct 20, 2015
8 min read

In this section:

Introduction

The Create and Modify Charts command can create new charts or modify existing charts in folders with schema type Charts. The default name of such a folder is 2. Charts.

A Chart is the area of interest for doing terrain modelling, analysis, contouring and so on. It could also be the definition of a nautical chart. The position and size of the chart frame can be entered in different ways.

The Chart will be a folder with schema type Chart, where datasets with predefined names will be created:

  • Frame: A polygon containing the chart definitions.
  • Soundings: A point dataset containing extracted points within the chart frame.
  • Seafloor: A DTM (digital terrain model) created from the Soundings dataset.
  • Boundary: A help polygon used when creating the DTM. The polygon can be created automatically from the Soundings dataset or digitised by hand.


The Create and Modify Chart menu

 

The content of the menu

The upper part of the menu contains the project name and the name of the active Charts folder.
Next to the text there is a Show Chart properties button. When clicking this button the existing charts in the folder are listed in a panel.

The main part of the menu contains tabs with different operations.

Tabs:
- Create Single Chart: Create new charts with unique names.
- Create Matrix of Charts: Create new charts within an existing chart.
- Create Charts along Line: Create charts positioned along a specified trace line.
- Modify Chart: Change the frame position, size or name of an existing chart.
- Miscellaneous: This tab contains tools to rename or delete charts, import or export chart definitions.

The lower part of the menu contains the standard Geocap buttons:

The Execute button will execute the selected method.
The OK button will save the parameters in the menu and close the menu.
The Cancel button will close the menu without saving the parameters.

 

Example of chart frame types: Single Chart, Matrix of Charts and Charts along Line.


The parameters for the Create Single Chart tab

Chart name:
Enter the name of the new charts. Duplicate names are not allowed.

The Copy Existing Chart button:
When clicking this button the chart definition can be copied from an existing chart.

The Chart Frame part:
The size of the chart can be entered manually by specifying the values in the the input fields -
- Min X, Max X or Width for eastings
- Min Y, Max Y or Height for northings

All the fields will be updated and kept consistent during the input.

The Scale to Survey Data button:
When clicking this button the chart frame size can be set around specific data files. The Select Survey Data menu appears and you can browse to the input files. When clicking OK the menu will read the specified files and set the chart frame with rounded values around the data.

The Scale to active window button:
When clicking this button the chart frame size can be set around the active data area.

The Rubberband select button:
When clicking this button the graphics window is set to 2D mode, and the chart frame can set by using the mouse to digitise a rectangle around the interesting area.

The Draw Chart Frame button:
When clicking this button the Chart Frame will be plotted in the 3D window.

When clicking the Execute button, the command will create a folder of type Chart with the specified chart name in the 2. Charts folder.
A Frame data object will then be created in the folder.
The coordinates and the size of the chart will be saved in the chart's properties panel.
Note: If the chart already exists, the function will not do any actions.

 

The parameters for the Create Matrix of Charts tab

This method is for creating new charts within an existing chart definition.
This method is useful if a chart should be split into smaller sections.

The Master Chart part:
The specification of the selected master chart.

The Select Master Chart button:
When clicking this button the existing charts are listed in a menu. Select one chart as the master chart.
The information is updated automatically.

The New charts part:
Enter the prefix for the new chart names. The charts will be numbered with the style as specified with the Ext option.
The numbering will be "1, 2, 3" , "01, 02, 03" or "001, 002, 003". "Automatic" will set the numbering according to the number of new charts.

The Specify how part:
Select By number of rows and columns or By chart geometry.
The frame specification to the right will change according to the selection.
Specify either the number of Rows and columns, or the Geometry as width and height of the new charts.

When clicking the Execute button, the command will create charts folders with the generated chart names in the 2. Charts folder.
A Frame data object will then be created in the folder.
The coordinates and the size of the chart will be saved in the chart's properties panel.
Note: If the chart already exists, the function will not do any actions.

 

 

The parameters for the Create Charts along Line tab

This method is for creating new charts along a specified trace line.

The Select Line for Chart generation and name of new charts part:
This is useful when a set of charts should cover a line.

The input field is for selecting the path name for the selected line. Click the browse button to get the path line from the project manager.
Browse in the selected line path to follow.

The Name part:
Enter the prefix for the new chart names. The charts will be numbered with the style as specified with the Ext: option.
The numbering will be "1, 2, 3" , "01, 02, 03" or "001, 002, 003". "Automatic" will set the numbering according to the number of new charts.

The Specify dimension and overlap of charts part:
The size of the chart can be entered manually by specifying the values in the the input fields:
- Width for the dimension in east (x) direction.
- Height for the dimension in north (y) direction.
- Chart overlap for the overlap between the charts along the path line.

The Save Charts toggle button:
Toggle the button off to test the charts generation. The charts are displayed in the graphics window.
Toggle the button on to do the charts generation.

When clicking the Execute button, the command will create charts folders with the generated chart names in the 2. Charts folder.
A Frame data object will then be created in the folder.
The coordinates and the size of the chart will be saved in the chart's properties panel.
Note: If the chart already exists, the function will not do any actions.

The parameters for the Modify Chart tab

This method is for changing the definition of existing charts.

The Chart to modify button:
Click the button to browse an existing chart.

The New chart name?
Enter the new chart name for the selected chart. If left blank the chart name will remain unchanged.

The Chart Frame part:
The size of the chart can be entered manually by specifying the values in the the input fields -
- Min X, Max X or Width for eastings
- Min Y, Max Y or Height for northings

All the fields will be updated and kept consistent during the input.

The Scale to Survey Data button:
When clicking this button the chart frame size can be set around specific data files. The Select Survey Data menu appears and you can browse to the input files. When clicking OK the menu will read the specified files and set the chart frame with rounded values around the data.

The Scale to active window button:
When clicking this button the chart frame size can be set around the active data area.

The Draw Chart Frame button:
When clicking this button the Chart Frame will be plotted in the 3D window.

When clicking the Execute button, the command will modify the chart in the folder with the specified name.
If the name is modified, the folder will be renamed.
The Frame data object will be updated.
The coordinates and the size of the chart will be saved in the chart's properties panel.

 

The parameters for the Miscellaneous tab

In this tab there are some additional tools for the charts.

In the Mode part the user select which opertion to perform:

  • Rename charts
  • Import chart definitions
  • Export chart definitions
  • Delete charts

Parameters for the selected operation can be set in a frame opening below the Mode frame.

Rename charts

In the Name input field enter the prefix for the new chart names. The charts will be numbered with the style as specified with the Ext option.
The numbering will be "1, 2, 3" , "01, 02, 03" or "001, 002, 003". "Automatic" will set the numbering according to the number of new charts.

Select which charts to modify in the Chart Name list in the right hand side of the tab.

When clicking the Execute button, the command will modify the chart name and the project folder for the selected charts. If a chart name already exists, a unique name will be created.

Import charts definitions

In input field in the Import chart definitions from file part, the ascii file containing chart definitions is specified. By clicking the browse button the file can be browsed from the file system on the computer. The record on the file can contain the following information:

Name RefEast RefNorth Width Height Rotation

Blank characters in the chart name is not allowed.
The Name can be omitted, then the name of the chart willl be Chart- followed by the sequence number for the chart definition in the ascii file.
If Name is omitted, then also Rotation can be omitted.
Blank records in the file, or records contaning wrong type of information will be skipped.
The records can be mixed with 6, 5 or 4 values according to the specifications above.

Format: (Name) RefE RefN Width Height Rotation

Chart  600590.00 6446150.00    6000.00    5910.00       0.00

600590.00 6446150.00    3000.00    2955.00       0.00
603590.00 6446150.00    3000.00    2955.00       0.00

600590.00 6449105.00    3000.00    2955.00
603590.00 6449105.00    3000.00    2955.00

When clicking the Execute button, the command will read the input filer and create the charts as specified.

Export charts definitions

In input field in the Export chart definitions from file part, the name for the ascii to save the chart definitions is specified. By clicking the button the file can be browsed to the file system on the computer. If an existing file is selected the file will be overwritten.

When clicking the Execute button, the command will read the input filer and create the charts specified.

The content of the output file will typically be:

Format: (Name) RefE RefN Width Height Rotation
Chart  600590.00 6446150.00    6000.00    5910.00       0.00
SubChart-1  600590.00 6446150.00    3000.00    2955.00       0.00
SubChart-2  603590.00 6446150.00    3000.00    2955.00       0.00
SubChart-3  600590.00 6449105.00    3000.00    2955.00       0.00
SubChart-4  603590.00 6449105.00    3000.00    2955.00       0.00

Delete charts

Select which charts to delete in the Chart Name list in the right hand side of the tab.

When clicking the Execute button, the command will delete the specified chart folder from the project.

A warning message will appear before the delete operation is performed.