VrOne

ON-LINE REFERENCE DOCUMENTATION

CARDINAL SYSTEMS, LLC

904-439-2525   

www.vr-one.com    mike@vr-one.com
 

ASCII IN (AscIn)

 

Type: Translator

 

Translates Ascii files into VrOne.

 

Ascii file formats are exported by many software packages, including VrOne’s ASCII OUT application. This provides a method to import simple data into VrOne. The Ascii In translator allows you to specify a variety of input formats, and supports Lines, Splines, Text, and Symbols. Files may be translated into the current open VrOne file, or may be translated in a batch mode into multiple VrOne files.

 

 

Load Parameters

Record Parameters

Define Input Filenames

Edit Parameters

Pen Codes

Field Positions

Translate

 

 

 

Ascii In

 

Load Parameters

Loads previously recorded ASCII IN (.asi) parameter file.

Record Parameters

Records current translation parameters to a ASCII IN (.asi) parameter file.

Define Input Filenames

Allows all ascii input files to be selected. Also allows a VrOne output file to be defined for each input file. Looks for files with an extension of .asc by default, but will attempt to read in any file chosen.

The VrOne output filenames will only be used if the "Translate to separate VrOne files" option is on.

 

NOTE: The VrOne output filenames may be edited by the user.

 

Add Files

Pressing this button will be display a standard VrOne file selection dialog. All files selected will be added to the list of Input files. A VrOne output filename will be generated based on each input filename.

 

Remove All

Pressing this button will remove all files from the Input file table.

Parameters

Allows editing of general translation parameters.

 

 

Translate to separate VrOne files?

If this is on, then each ASCII input file will be translated to a separate VrOne file. The Input to Ouput filename cross reference is set in the "Define Input Filenames" dialog.

 

Target scale for new VrOne files (1:n)

If the "Translate to separate VrOne file?" is on, and a VrOne file does not exist during translation, then this Target scale will be used when creating the new VrOne file.

 

Units for new VrOne files

If the "Translate to separate VrOne file?" is on, and a VrOne file does not exist during translation, then these units will be used when creating the new VrOne file.

The options are: "US Foot", "Meters", "Intl Foot"

 
Field Delimiter

Specifies that delimiter character that separates items on each line of the input file. The options are “Spaces” or “Commas”.  Files that are “Space” delimited may have one or more spaces or tabs between the fields.

 

Following is an example of a “Space” delimited file:

  734370.0   4069560.0     620.0

  734370.0   4069590.0     620.0

  734370.0   4069620.0     620.0

  734370.0   4069650.0     620.0

734370.0 4069560.0 620.0

734370.0 4069590.0 620.0

734370.0 4069620.0 620.0

734370.0 4069650.0 620.0

 

 

Following is an example of a “Comma” delimited file:

  734370.0, 4069560.0, 620.0

  734370.0, 4069590.0, 620.0

  734370.0, 4069620.0, 620.0

  734370.0, 4069650.0, 620.0

734370.0,4069560.0,620.0

734370.0,4069590.0,620.0

734370.0,4069620.0,620.0

734370.0,4069650.0,620.0

 

Feature Code Surrounding Character

Specifies the character that surrounds feature codes. This is only used if a feature code field position if specified. This can only be a single character, such as a quote, or may be left blank. Because Feature Codes may contain spaces, only comma-delimited files fully support Feature Codes.

 

Following is an example of a line from a “Comma” delimited file containing a feature codes at the last field position with a quote as the surrounding character.

734370.0,4069560.0,620.0,Sym,”Sym 7723”

 

Default line layer

Defines the layer that will be used for all lines if a layer field is not in the input file.

 

Default spline layer

Defines the layer that will be used for all splined lines if a layer field is not in the input file.

 
Default text layer

Defines the layer that will be used for all text if a layer field is not in the input file.

 
Default symbol layer

Defines the layer that will be used for all symbols if a layer field is not in the input file.

 
Default symbol graphic pointer

Defines the graphic pointer that will be used for all symbols.

 
Default text label

Define the text label that will be used if no text labels are in the input file.

 

Text label location

Defines the location of the text label field on lines that define text locations in the input file. The opiotns are “No Text Label”, “End of the record”, “Record following.”. If the “No Text Label” option is chosen, then the text will be placed with the default text label. If the “End of the record” option is chosen, the text label will be taken from the last field of the current text record. If the “Record following” option is chosen, the text label will be taken from the next line in the input file (will read the entire line as the text label).

 
Allow layer names in Layer field?

If this is on, then any layer names found in the layer name field will be looked in the current layer name table. If a match is found, the entity will be placed in the layer that matches the layer name. If this is off, then all layers must be numeric.

Pen Codes

This allows you to define the pen codes for lines vertices, symbols, or text. Each line in the input file must contain a pen code that identifies that type of information it contains. For example, text elements may be defined by the Pen code “Text”. Lines and Splined Lines are created by using different pen codes to indicate when a new line should be started (Pen down), and when it should be ended (Pen Up or Pen end). NOTE: The pen up, pen down, and pen end codes should all be different or AscIn will not translate the lines correctly.

 

 

Field Positions

Defines the field positions of each data item in the ascii input file. Each line in the ascii file must contain data that matches the fields positions defined in this dialog box. A 0 field position indicates that the field is not present.

 

 

The dialog box shown above defines a very basic ascii file format. In this case, the file only contains the x,y,z and pen code information for each record. A sample line from a comma-delimited file that matches this format would look as follows:

 

123.45,154.43,12.54,Sym

 

NOTE: AscIn will ignore any lines in the ASCII file that contain less fields than specified here.

Translate

Begins the file translation process. All files that were defined by the “Define input Filenames” option will be imported.

Help

Starts the browser and displays the current help document.

Quit

Quits Ascii In and gives an option to save the current parameters if they have been changed.