Vr Mapping

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VR CONFIGURATION (VrCfig.exe)

Type: Stand-alone program

Detailed Description

Vr Configuration is a stand-alone program that allows setting and editing of program parameters for all Vr Mapping programs. The Vr Configuration program resides in the \vr\bin folder and the executable file name is vrcfig.exe. Vr Configuration can be started from the Windows Start button then by selecting VrOne then Vr Configuration

Project Parameters	Mouse	Plotter
Vector Graphics	VrTwo Cursor	Beep
Image Graphics	VrTwo 3D Input Device	General
General Graphics	Videomap	File Paths
XY Digitizer	Keyport	Numlock Control
XYZ Digitizer	Z Source	Correlation Settings

Project Parameters

Project Parameters set the default directories for the Vr Mapping Software programs. When opening files these directories will be used as the default directory.

Vector Graphics

Character set directory

Defines the directory where the 13 VrOne character set files reside. The default character sets are: Ci, Cr, Cs, Dr, Ge, Gg, Gi, Hs, In, Sr, Ss, Ti, Tr The drive letter and path must be included in the file name.

Default: c:\vr\data

Symbol file name

The VrOne symbol file contains symbol and line font definitions. These are used to draw symbols and to font lines when displaying a map. The drive letter and path must be included in the file name.

Default: c:\vr\data\symbols.sym

Color table for screen

The color table cross references VrOne Pen Numbers with colors. This is a text file and may be edited. The screen color table will be used when drawing to the graphics windows in VrOne and VrTwo. The default Screen and Plotter color tables are the same except for Pen number 1 which is white for the screen and black for the plotter. The drive letter and path must be included in the file name.

Default: c:\vr\data\defaultscreen.ct

Color table for plotter

The color table cross references VrOne Pen Numbers with colors. This is a text file and may be edited. The plotter color table will be used when drawing to a hard copy plotter from VrOne. The default Screen and Plotter color tables are the same except for Pen number 1 which is white for the screen and black for the plotter. The drive letter and path must be included in the file name.

Default: c:\\vr\\data\\defaultplotter.ct

Layer Name file

The Layer Name file cross references VrOne layer numbers with a layer name. The layer name is used for display purposes in VrOne and is used for the default layer names in DXF Out. The Layer Name file is a text file and may be edited with any text editor. The drive letter and path must be included in the file name.

Default: c:\vr\data\default.lay

Pen Table file name

The pen table allows the assignment of pen numbers to layers and modes. These pen numbers represent graphic screen colors or pen numbers on a line plotter. Each of the four modes in every layer can be given a separate pen number. The use of pen tables in VrOne is optional. Each VrOne entity stores a pen number in its header.

The color of a pen number is defined in the Screen or Plotter Color Table and is a Red/Green/Blue value.

The Pen Table file is a text file and may be edited with any text editor.

Following is an example of one line in the Pen Table file:

Layer 5041 2 3 4 5

where:

5041 - Layer number (1-10,001)

2 - Pen number for lines (1-256)

3 - Pen number for splined lines (1-256)

4 - Pen number for symbols (1-256)

5 - Pen number for text (1-256)

The drive letter and path must be included in the file name.

NOTE: The VrOne application Change Pen (ChaPen) may be used in VrOne to change entity colors which will modify the Pen Table.

Default: c:\\vr\\data\\default.pen");

Use Pen Table?

If the Use Pen Table is set to Yes then a Pen Table will be used to set the colors for entities. The Pen Table value will override the value set in the Entity Header when an entity is saved.

If this parameter is set to No then each entity can have its own Pen Number thus its own color.

The VrOne application Change Pen (ChaPen) may be used to change entity colors even if Use Pen Table is set to No.

Default: Yes

Background color for windows

This parameter sets the background color for the graphics windows when using VrOne. The background color of white is useful when copying windows from VrOne and pasting into a program such as Word for printing.

Default: Black

Highlight pen number

In most cases when VrOne “locks onto” an entity and the entity becomes tentative, the color of the lines that make up the entity change to Highlight Color. The Highlight Color is normally white but may be changed. This parameter is entered as a VrOne Pen Number and has a range of 1-256.

Default: 1

Entity search radius

This parameter defines the distance to use when searching for lines, symbols or text in VrOne and VrTwo. The Entity Search Radius is entered as ground units

Default: 100.0

Entity search dimension

The Entity Search Dimension defines the number of axis to use when searching for an entity. For normal photogrammetry where the ground Z axis increases toward the eye point (camera) the two-dimensional search is used. For close range or oblique photography where the ground surface is at an oblique angle to the model plane, the three-dimensional search may be used.

Default: 2D

Splined line chord length (in|mm)

This spline is used in VrOne as a curved line display mode. The splined points are not stored in the VrOne file but are generated when this line is displayed. The curved line generated by this algorithm passes thru all the points on the line. This parameter determines the spacing between points on the splined line and is entered as inches or millimeters (in|mm). See Vr Definitions for more information.

Default: 0.02

B Spline increment (1-10)

This spline may be used to generate contours from the Digital Modeling application in VrOne. The points on the splined line are stored in the VrOne file. The curved line generated by this algorithm is an approximation and may not pass thru all the points on the line. The higher is B Spline Increment, the more points will be placed on the line. For example: If the B Spline Increment is set to 3 and the original line has 100 points then the B Splined line will contain 300 points. See Vr Definitions for more information.

Default: 3

Display line fonts at all zoom scales?

Default: No

Wide line stroke distance (in|mm)

When Draw Wide Lines is set to Multiple Lines this parameter determines the distance between the multiple lines. It is entered as inches or millimeters at display scale (in|mm).

Default: 0.005

Draw wide lines by

Some display drivers and plotting devices have the ability to draw wider lines. Options are “Graphics Driver if Able” and “Multiple Lines”. In cases that the graphics device cannot draw wide lines this parameter may be set to Multiple Lines. When Multiple Lines are active, the original line is drawn then lines are drawn parallel to the original to make a wide line. The Wide Line Stroke Distance is used to determine the offset between lines. When multiple lines are drawn the line corners are mitered.

Default: Multiple Lines

Line fill stroke distance (in|mm)

Not yet implemented.

Minimum text size (in|mm)

When zoomed out, the display of text may become so small that it is no longer readable. This parameter set the minimum text size in which text will be drawn. Sizes smaller that this will result in a line, the length of the text, being drawn. This will result in faster drawing times. The Minimum Text Size is entered as inches or millimeters at display scale (in|mm).

Minimum symbol size (in|mm)

When zoomed out, the display of symbols may become so small that it is no longer readable. This parameter set the minimum text size in which a symbol will be drawn. Sizes smaller that this will result in a slash being drawn. This will result in faster drawing times. The Minimum Symbol Size is entered as inches or millimeters at display scale (in|mm).

Line MBR offset (in|mm)

Each line in the VrOne data base is surrounded by a Minimum Bounding Rectangle (MBR). This MBR helps search routines find lines quickly. It also helps when trying to determine if lines cross or lines touch each other. When locking onto a line, the search point must be within the lines MBR. If the search point is slightly outside the MBR, the line is not found. Extending the Lines MBR slightly makes locking onto lines easier when you’re trying to lock to the end point. The Line MBR Offset is entered as inches or millimeters at display scale (in|mm).

Default: 0.1

Image Graphics

Image pyramids are used when displaying images where the scale of the displayed image greater than image 1:1 scale. This happens when the image is zoomed out. Pyramids are similar to a thumbnail image but there are several images to help with multiple display scales. In the case where the desired scale is between two image pyramids, the higher resolution image is used.

Image pyramids decrease display time by loading and displaying only the needed pixels. These files are temporary and may be removed once a project is complete. If an image is opened and there are no pyramids, they will be created if the Create Image Pyramids? parameter is set to Yes.

Create image pyramids?

When Create Image Pyramids is set to Yes then image pyramids will be created, if they don’t exist, when the image is opened. This parameter should always be set to Yes.

Default: Yes

Image pyramids directory

This parameter defines the directory in which image pyramids are to be placed. The drive letter and path must be included.

Default: C:\jobs\pyra

Image pyramids drive

When multiple disk drives are used to store images it may be desirable to place the image pyramids on the same drive as the source images. This is especially useful when using removable drives so the pyramids are not recreated when the drive is moved from one computer to another. Options are:

• Use drive specified in Image pyramids directory (above) – The pyramids will be placed in the directory specified by the Image Pyramids Directory field.
• Use the same drive where the image is located – The pyramids will be placed in the directory specified by the Image Pyramids Directory field but the drive will be defined by the location of the source image. For example, if the source image is F:\jobs\images\image1.TIF and the Image Pyramids Directory was C:\jobs\pyra then the image pyramids would be stored in the F:\jobs\pyra directory.

Default: C:\jobs\pyra

White pixels transparent?
Black pixels transparent?

In many cases images have black or white pixels surrounding the image. This is especially true in the case of rotated images. In most cases these border pixels are the same color as the window background and is not noticed. These pixels become a problem when images overlap. These two options allow white and (or) black pixels to be displayed as transparent so underlying images can be seen through the image border.

General Graphics

Window Shift

When Window Shift is Yes then the graphics window will be shifted to center the cursor when the cursor nears the edge of the window. This is normally used with VrOne when it is connected to an analog or analytical stereo plotting instrument.

Default: Off

Buffer Xy/Xyz input during replot?

When Window Shift is On and the cursor reaches the edge of the window the window is replotted with the cursor in the center of the window. If there are a lot of graphics to replot the computer may lose some reads from the input device. If this parameter is set to Yes then the input from the stereo plotter will be buffered during the replot operation so no reads are lost. This is useful when using applications such as Insert Fly Line (InsFly)

Default: No

Grid display

Grid points will be displayed on the graphics window when Grid Display is set to On.

Default: Off

Grid resolution

If the Grid Display is On, this parameter defines the resolution, in ground units, to display the grid points. If the scale of the screen would result in too many grid points displayed then a multiple of the grid resolution will be used but the Grid Resolution will remain unchanged.

Default: 100

Display lines?

Sets the display of lines on the graphics window. If this parameter is No then no lines or splined lines will be displayed.

Default: Yes

Display splined lines?

Sets the display of splined lines on the graphics window. If this parameter is No, splined lines will still be displayed but only the original vertex points will be shown with no splining between them.

Default: Yes

Display line fonts?

Sets the display of line fonts on the graphics window. If this parameter is No, fonted lines will still be displayed but the lines will be shown as solid lines.

Default: Yes

Display construction lines?

Sets the display of construction lines on the graphics window. If this parameter is No, lines with their Construction Flag turned on will not be displayed.

Default: Yes

Display line points?

If this parameter is set to Yes then lines will be displayed with small cross drawn on each line vertex. This can slow the graphics replotting.

Default: No

Display line elevations?

If this parameter is set to Yes then lines will be displayed with the elevation of each line vertex drawn. This can slow the graphics replotting.

Default: No

Display symbols?

Sets the display of symbols on the graphics window. If this parameter is No then no symbols will be displayed.

Default: Yes

Display text?

Sets the display of text entities on the graphics window. If this parameter is No then no text entites will be displayed.

Default: Yes

Display interactive lines?

Display interactive symbols?

Display interactive text?

When editing or placing entities a tentative entity is displayed on the graphics window. Tentative entities are normally white and may be moved, rotated and scaled without disturbing the existing graphics already displayed. If this parameter is set to No then tentative entities will not be displayed. This setting is useful of a slower graphics device or a device that cannot handle interactive graphics.

Default: Yes

XY Digitizer

Xy digitizers are always connected to the VrOne application computer via the RS-232 (Serial) interface. These digitizers allow input so VrOne can set up existing map sheets for digitizing. VrOne can also be configured for input to behave similar to a mouse when in the graphics window.

An advantage to using a digitizer rather than a mouse for editing is function selection from the 12 button keypad on the digitizer puck. This speeds editing by keeping the operators hands off the system keyboard. Production is also helped by the use of the Vr Menu Board on the digitizing surface allowing for faster menu selections along with Menu Board definitions to suit your production needs.

With some of the digitizer configurations it is possible to cross reference raw button presses to VrOne button presses. In the cases where this is allowed an ASCII file with the .key extension is provided for this purpose and is stored in the \vr\hostdir directory. The filename will be the device name plus the .key file extension. For example the key cross reference file for the Hitachi Puma Plus is puma.key. It is not possible to put VrOne commands on the puck buttons. Only VrOne keys 0-9, * and # are allowed.

XY Digitizer

Allows the selection of an XY digitizer as input to VrOne. Various types of xy digitizers may be chosen.

Default: No XY digitizer

Read delay

On slower computers the input from the Xy digitizer may be too fast for the application. The Read Delay parameter allows slowing of the input device by placing a delay between each device read. This parameter is entered as milliseconds where 1000 milliseconds is 1 second.

Default: 0

Digitizer mode

The Digitizer Mode defines the adjustment to perform on raw coordinates coming from an Xy digitizer. Options are:

• Scratch – The Scratch Orientation defines a 10”x10” area of the digitizer that is mapped to the graphics screen. The origin of the square is the lower left corner of the graphics window. In this mode the Xy digitizer movements are similar to a mouse except that the cursor will have no effect if it is moved from the graphics window.
• Least Squares – The Vr program Orient 2D (ori2d) may be used to set up an existing map sheet on an Xy digitizer and collect 2D data from the map sheet. The Least Squares setting will transform input coordinates to the last orientated map sheet ground coordinates. This is useful for digitizing existing maps into current data bases or for digitizing flight lines from USGS Quadrangle sheets.

Default: Scratch

2D transformation file

When the Digitizer Mode is set to Least Squares, VrOne looks for a 2D transformation file to convert raw digitizer coordinates to ground coordinates. The Vr program Orient 2D writes this file upon completion of a map sheet orientation. This parameter defines the 2D transformation file name. If multiple map sheets are set up on the same digitizer this parameter may be changed to match the desired map sheet input.

Default: C:\vr\data\default.o2d

Digitizer Information

Pressing this button will display the help page for the supported digitizers. This information will help in the configuration of an Xy digitizing tablet.

Test Digitizer

After configuring a digitizer, it may be tested here to make sure it is operational before entering VrOne. Pressing this button displays a text window in which raw coordinates are displayed along with digitizer puck button presses.

Stop Digitizer Test

If the testing of a digitizer is in progress, pressing this button will stop the current test.

Configure Serial Settings

All digitizers that are supported by VrOne use the RS-232 (serial) interface. When a digitizer is selected the most commonly used serial settings are automatically selected. However it may be necessary to change these settings if you are using a non-standard configuration. This may be true is you’re using the same digitizer for VrOne and another CAD program on the same computer. The most common change is in the COM port. The default COM1 port may be used by another device.

• The Serial device may be set from COM1 to COM9.
• The Baud rate, Character size, Parity and Stop bits are standard serial settings and you should consult your digitizer documentation for more information about these settings.
• The Xon Status and Xoff status control software flow control between the digitizer and the computer and are normally Off.
• The Hand Shake parameter makes sure the input driver performs a bi-directional communication with the input device each read. This parameter is never set to Yes for Xy digitizers.
• Default: Determined by the Xy Digitizer

XYZ Digitizer

Xyz digitizers are analog stereo plotters such as the Wild B8 or Analytical stereo plotters such as the Zeiss P3 and are also 3D softcopy systems such as VrTwo the SOCET SET.

With some of the digitizer configurations it is possible to cross reference raw button presses to VrOne button presses. In the cases where this is allowed an ASCII file with the .key extension is provided for this purpose and is stored in the \vr\hostdir directory. The filename will be the device name plus the .key file extension. For example the key cross reference file for the Zeiss P1/P2/P3 stereo plotter is p3.key.

XY Digitizer

Allows the selection of an XYZ 3D digitizer as input to VrOne. Various types of xyz digitizers may be chosen.

Default: No XYZ digitizer

Read delay

On slower computers the input from the Xyz digitizer may be too fast for the application. The Read Delay parameter allows slowing of the input device by placing a delay between each device read. This parameter is entered as milliseconds where 1000 milliseconds is 1 second.

Default: 0

VrTwo startup mode

VrTwo offers two methods of viewing stereo; static mode in which the images do not move but the cursor does and roaming mode in which the images move and the cursor remains in the middle of the graphics window. Roaming mode is similar to the viewing on analytical stereo plotting instruments. When VrTwo is started you may choose the mode to start. Options are: Static images or Roaming images.

Default: Static images

VrTwo edge distance

When VrTwo is in static image mode and the cursor approaches the edge of the graphics window the stereo image will re-center, placing the cursor in the middle of the window. The Edge Distance parameter sets the distance from the edge of the window at which the images will be re-centered. This parameter is entered as pixels.

Default: 5 pixels

VrTwo cursor mask size

VrTwo displays two images to and line, symbol and text vectors which make up the stereo softcopy display. At times when there is a large amount of vector data the stereo image may become difficult to see. VrTwo offers a Cursor Mask which blanks out the vectors around the cursor so the operator can see the ground clearly. The Cursor Mask may be turned on and off by pressing the Delete key on the system keyboard.

In VrTwo roaming mode it is possible to turn on the cursor mask and a magnifier. In this mode vectors are blanked around the cursor and the image is magnified for better pointing ability. In all modes tentative lines that are being placed or edited will display through the cursor mask.

This parameter defines the size of the cursor mask in pixels and has a range of 1-99.

Default: 50

VrTwo cursor mask shape

The VrTwo cursor mask may be displayed as a circle or a square when in roaming mode.

Default: Circle

VrTwo cursor track plane

VrTwo has the ability to track the 3D cursor along one of two planes. The first plane is the View Plane or the Model Plane. The Model Plane is the plane that is formed when a stereo pair are formed. The Ground Plane is the plane that is formed by the ground control system.

For standard aerial photography were the image plane is almost parallel to the ground then the Ground Plane should always be used. In the case of oblique aerial photography or oblique close range photography the View Plane may be used for predictable cursor movements. In both modes the correct Xyz coordinate is always computed for the cursor location. In View Plane, the Z coordinate will change when the cursor is moved from the 3D input device.

Default: Ground Plane

Following is an example of an aerial oblique photo of Mount St. Helens that tracking the View Plane would be useful.

PEX file directory

When VrTwo is interfaced to a Zeiss P1/P2/P3 analitical instrument or an instrument that emulates the Zeiss stereo plotter format, a PEX file is required. The PEX file provides information for the transformation from model to ground and other model information. Orientation programs such as PCAP, AP32 and OriP3 writes this file after model orientation. This parameter sets the directory in which VrOne is to look for a PEX file. VrOne will open the first occurrence of a file with the .PEX extension. Consult your orientation program documentation to determine were the program is placing this file.

Default: c:\vr\hostdir

3D transformation file

When VrTwo is interfaced to an analog instrument a 3D Transformation File is needed to convert raw encoder values to ground coordinates. The analog instrument model orientation program Orient 3D (ori3d.exe) will write this file after model orientation. This parameter sets the file name for VrOne to open.

Default: c:\vr\data\default.o3d

Analog instrument interface

When VrTwo is interfaced to an analog instrument there are three interfaces that are supported:

• Fischer SEC-PC (Internal ISA card) – This is the original 3-axis stereo plotter card and is not as widely used because of the lack of an ISA slot in newer computers.
• Fischer SEC-232 (External interface) – This interface is an external device that connects to the instrument and connects to the application computer via RS-232 (Serial). It was commonly used when interfacing a UNIX computer to an analog stereo plotter.
• Fischer SEC-PCI (Internal PCI card) – This is the latest card available to interface to an analog instrument and support the widely used PCI interface that is available on most computers.

Default: Fischer SEC-PC

More information about these interface products may be found on the Fischer Computer Systems web page at http://www.secpc.com/.

Analog instrument scale factor X / Y / Z

When VrTwo is interfaced to an analog instrument the instrument may have encoders that output different amounts of counts per revolution. The least squares adjustment for analog instruments requires a square input where all three encoders output the same amount of counts.

The amount of counts can be measured from the analog instrument using the 3D Orientation program (or3d). A ruler can be placed on the instrument model motion to measure the axis movement. Normally encoders of different counts will output a significant difference in counts so the measurement does not need to be exact. For example one encoder may output 1000 counts while another may output 5000 counts for the same distance traveled.

The scale factors must be set so that all three axis output the same amount of counts for the same distance traveled. Incorrect settings of the scale factors will make it will be impossible to set an accurate model.

Default: 1.0

SEC-PC IO Address (816 820)

When using a Fischer SEC-PC interface card to connect to an analog instrument the IO address of the card must be entered. Valid entries are 816 and 820 (decimal). This setting is set on the interface card and you should consult the Fisher documentation to determine the IO address of the card your using.

Default: 820

SEC-PC Footswitch bounce count

The SEC-PC analog instrument interface comes with a two-pedal footswitch. The hardware does not offer “de-bouncing” so it’s possible to get several readings from a footswitch press as the switch bounces between on and off. This parameter defines the number of footswitch down readings that must be obtained before it is considered a valid press.

Default: 10

Zeiss P3 instrument interface

The Zeiss P1/P2/P3 analytical stereo plotter instruments support two interface types; RS-232 (Serial) and GPIB (General Purpose Interface Bus). If the GPIB interface is selected then a card must be installed in the application computer. The GPIB interface that VrOne uses is the CEC-488 card from Capitol Equipment Corp (http://www.cec488.com/). Click here for more information about this card.

Default: Serial (RS-232)

SOCET SET 3D input device

When VrOne is interfaced to SOCET SET, the 3D input device may be configured and input from SOCET SET or from VrOne. Normally this device is configured on SOCET SET. Configuring it on VrOne will result in a slower read rate as more data is transmitted between VrOne and SOCET SET.

Default: From SOCET SET

Digitizer Information

Pressing this button will display the help page for the supported digitizers. This information will help in the configuration of stereo plotters.

Test Digitizer

After configuring a digitizer, it may be tested here to make sure it is operational before entering VrOne. Pressing this button displays a text window in which raw coordinates are displayed along with raw stereo plotter button presses.

Stop Digitizer Test

If the testing of a digitizer is in progress, pressing this button will stop the current test.

Preset Analog Interface

If an analog instrument is configured and this instrument is currently being tested then pressing this button will set the current encoder values to their preset values.

Drive Analytical Instrument

If an analytical instrument is configured and this instrument is currently being tested then pressing this button will drive the instrument to the Xyz location when the test routine was started. This is to test the drive function of the instrument.

Configure Serial Settings

Many of the analytical instruments that are supported by VrOne use the RS-232 (serial) interface. When a digitizer is selected the most commonly used serial settings are automatically selected. However it may be necessary to change these settings if you are using a non-standard configuration. This may be true if the orientation software is using different serial settings that the VrOne defaults. The most common change is in the COM port. The default COM1 port may be used by another device.

• The Serial device may be set from COM1 to COM9.
• The Baud rate, Character size, Parity and Stop bits are standard serial settings and you should consult your digitizer documentation for more information about these settings.
• The Xon Status and Xoff status control software flow control between the digitizer and the computer and are normally Off.
• The Hand Shake parameter makes sure the input driver performs a bi-directional communication with the input device each read. This parameter being set to Yes is needed with some SD2000 formatted interfaces and is required when driving the instrument.
• Default: Determined by the Xy Digitizer

Mouse Buttons

Mouse buttons on the system mouse and the Stealth 3D mouse may be cross reference to any of the twelve VrOne buttons which are 0 through 9, * and #. The original Stealth mouse can be configured by this dialog which is the USB version that operates like the system mouse when connected. This is different from the Stealth Z-Mouse. See the Hardware Configurations help page for more information about the Stealth mice.

VrTwo Cursor

This dialog configures the VrTwo cursor.

Cursor type

This parameter sets the cursor type to Dot or Cross.

Default: Cross

Cursor size

This parameter sets the size of the cursor and is entered as pixels. Fifteen pixels is an adequate size for the cross cursor and four pixels is good for the dot cursor.

Default: 15

VrTwo cursor mask size

VrTwo displays two images to and line, symbol and text vectors which make up the stereo softcopy display. At times when there is a large amount of vector data the stereo image may become difficult to see. VrTwo offers a Cursor Mask which blanks out the vectors around the cursor so the operator can see the ground clearly. The Cursor Mask may be turned on and off by pressing the Delete key on the system keyboard.

In VrTwo roaming mode it is possible to turn on the cursor mask and a magnifier. In this mode vectors are blanked around the cursor and the image is magnified for better pointing ability. In all modes tentative lines that are being placed or edited will display through the cursor mask.

This parameter defines the size of the cursor mask in pixels and has a range of 1-99.

Default: 50

VrTwo cursor mask shape

The VrTwo cursor mask may be displayed as a circle or a square when in roaming mode.

Default: Circle

Cursor color

This parameter sets the color of the cursor. Options are: White, Black, Red, Green, Blue and Yellow.

Default: White

VrTwo cursor track plane

VrTwo has the ability to track the 3D cursor along one of two planes. The first plane is the View Plane or the Model Plane. The Model Plane is the plane that is formed when a stereo pair are formed. The Ground Plane is the plane that is formed by the ground control system.

For standard aerial photography were the image plane is almost parallel to the ground then the Ground Plane should always be used. In the case of oblique aerial photography or oblique close range photography the View Plane may be used for predictable cursor movements. In both modes the correct Xyz coordinate is always computed for the cursor location. In View Plane, the Z coordinate will change when the cursor is moved from the 3D input device.

Default: Ground Plane

Following is an example of an aerial oblique photo of Mount St. Helens that tracking the View Plane would be useful.

VrTwo 3D Input Device

VrTwo 3D input device

VrTwo supports several different types of input devices. These devices are typically hand held controllers that supply the XYZ movement of the floating mark in VrTwo. They also support multiple buttons for digitizing points and the control of VrTwo applications. It is possible to operate VrTwo with just the system mouse in which the Z is controlled by the wheel. In this case, “System Mouse or original Stealth Mouse” is selected. Options for the 3D Input Type are: System Mouse or original Stealth Mouse, DAT/EM Handwheels, TopoMouse from LH Systems, Stealth Z-Mouse and Stealth Handwheels.

Default: System Mouse or original Stealth Mouse

Configure Serial Settings

Many of the 3D input devices that are supported by VrOne use the RS-232 (serial) interface. When a 3D input device is selected the most commonly used serial settings are automatically selected. However it may be necessary to change these settings if you are using a non-standard configuration. The most common change is in the COM port. The default COM1 port may be used by another device.

• The Serial device may be set from COM1 to COM9.
• The Baud rate, Character size, Parity and Stop bits are standard serial settings and you should consult your 3D input device documentation for more information about these settings.
• The Xon Status and Xoff status control software flow control between the digitizer and the computer and are normally Off.
• The Hand Shake parameter makes sure the input driver performs a bi-directional communication with the input device each read. This parameter not used for any 3D input device.
• Default: Determined by the current 3D input

Videomap

VrOne supports the Zeiss Videomap 2 and the Zeiss Videomap 30 vector super-imposition systems on the Zeiss P1/P2/P3 analytical instruments.

Videomap type

The parameter defines the Videomap type and options are: None, Videomap 2, Videomap 30 and Test.

Default: None

Number of sides

Videomap is normally imposed on the left image but it is possible to have two Videomap units for the left and right sides when using a Zeiss P1. Options for this parameter are Left only and Stereo.

Default: Left only

Keyport

Keyports are devices that connect to VrOne give the user the ability to place commands, macros and (or) functions keys on buttons for easier program usage.

Keyport type

This parameter defines the current keyport that is interfaced to the computer. Options are:

• None – No keyport is connected and all input will come from the system keyboard
• Polytel Keyport 300 KBD – The Polytel Keyport 300 that connects in the keyboard loop.
• Polytel Keyport 300 Serial – The Polytel Keyport 300 that connects to the application computer through an external RS-232 (Serial) interface.
• CEDEQ Enterpad 120 – This keypad has 120 buttons and connects in the keyboard loop. For more information click here.
• Keyport 252 USB or Serial – The DAT/EM Keyport has 252 buttons and supports the USB or Serial interface. It is recommended to use the Serial interface only. For more information click here.
• Touchscreen – The Vr Touchscreen offers 567 buttons in a 7-inch form factor. This is an LCD touch screen and offers dynamic menus. It is configured as another screen in Windows. For more information click here.

Test Keyport

If it is possible to test the current keyport then pressing this button displays a text window in which button presses are displayed.

Stop Test

If the testing of a keyport is in progress, pressing this button will stop the current test.

Configure Serial Settings

Several of the supported keyports are connected via the RS-232 (Serial) interface. When a keyport is selected the most commonly used serial settings are automatically selected. However it may be necessary to change these settings if you are using a non-standard configuration. The most common change is in the COM port. The default COM1 port may be used by another device.

• The Serial device may be set from COM1 to COM9.
• The Baud rate, Character size, Parity and Stop bits are standard serial settings and you should consult your digitizer documentation for more information about these settings.
• The Xon Status and Xoff status control software flow control between the digitizer and the computer and are normally Off.
• The Hand Shake parameter makes sure the input driver performs a bi-directional communication with the input device each read. This parameter is always set to Off for the Keyport configuration.
• Default: Determined by the Keyport Type

Z Source

Z Source

There are several sources for the Z axis in VrOne and VrTwo. Options are:

• Xyz digitizer or Active Z – If the current input device is capable of inputting Z then it will be used. If the current input device cannot input Z then the Active Z will be used. The active Z can set at any time with one of the Z management commands.
• DTM surface if active – If a DTM surface is active then the elevation will be interpolated from the DTM surface based on the current Xy position.
• Force Z – The Z will be forced to a constant value.

Force Z value

If the Z Source is set to Force Z then elevation defined by this parameter will be used as Z input.

Contour interval

The contour interval parameter is used by several Z management commands such as Z + which will take the current elevation and add the contour interval to it. This parameter is entered as ground units.

Set active Z to snapped Z?

If this parameter is set to Yes then the Active Z will be changed to the elevation of the snapped point. This is useful when labeling symbol X’s with their elevations in VrOne when the Xy digitizer or mouse is the active input device.

Plotter

The plotter configuration options set the parameters for plotting to hard copy devices. See the VrOne command Plot (Plo) for more information about plotting

Format

Several plot formats are supported and are:

• HP-GL – Basic Hewlett Packard Graphics Language. This may be used to plot vectors.
• HP-GL/2 – Hewlett Packard Graphics Language 2. This is a more compressed version of HP-GL and is used to plot vectors.
• Hp-GL/2 and HP RTL – Hewlett Packard Graphics Language 2 and Hewlett Packard Raster Transfer Language. These two formats are combined into one plot file and enable the plotting of vectors over images. This format may also be used when plotting vectors without images or images without vectors.
• Postscript – Basic Adobe Postscript format. This format is used by many publishers.

Default: HP-GL/2 and HP RTL

Interface

The Interface parameter defines the interface to the plotter and are:

• Plot file – The contents of the plot are written to a plot file which can be transferred to the plotter.
• RS-232 – The computer is connected to the plotter via an RS-232 (Serial) cable. This is an interface for older line plotters only. It is no longer supported.

Default: Plot file

Beep

The Beep configuration allows the setting of sounds for each of the twelve VrOne buttons and for other VrOne actions. Any wave sound file (.wav), including your own, may be selected to be played when a button is pressed or an action occurs.

General

Start input device

When VrOne starts it may initialize and start several input devices but one must be the active device. Options for the Start Input Device are:

• Xy digitizer
• Xyz stereoplotter
• Mouse

If a device is chosen that is not configured then the Mouse will be used as the Start Input Device.

Default: Mouse

Open last VR files?

VrOne remembers the VrOne vector files that are open when it ends. Setting Open Last VR Files to Yes will reopen these files when VrOne is started.

Default: Yes

Open last Image files?

VrOne remembers the VrOne image files that are open when it ends. Setting Open Last Image Files to Yes will reopen these images when VrOne is started.

Default: Yes

Prompt units

Each VrOne vector file contains a Target Scale which determines its plotting scale and is used to scale symbols and line fonts. Many size parameters in VrOne are entered in inches or millimeters and are converted to ground units at display time. The Prompt Units sets the size units for these entries to inches or millimeters.

Default: Inches

Millimeters per inch

Since there are several different conversion constants for converting millimeters to inches, VrOne allows this constant to be defined by the user.

Default: 25.4

Meters to feet conversion factor

Since there are several different conversion constants for converting meters to feet, VrOne allows this constant to be defined by the user.

Default: 3.280833

Browser program for help

The help system in VrOne is based on standard HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) and requires a browser to display this help. If the user wishes to use a browser other than the Microsoft Explorer on Windows XP it may be defined here.

Default: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe

Function key file

This parameter defines the location of the VrOne Function Key file. This file contains VrOne Function keys and the Edit Function Key (EdiFun) application may be used to edit this file from within VrOne.

Default: C:\vr\data\default.fk

Menu board command file

This parameter defines the location of the VrOne Menu Board Command file. This file contains button assignments for the Menu Board. It is a text file and may be edited. Each button may contain VrOne key-ins, Macros or Function Keys.

Default: C:\vr\data\default.mb

Keypad command file

This parameter defines the location of the VrOne Keypad Command file. This file contains button assignments for a keypad such as the Keyport 252. It is a text file and may be edited. Each button may contain VrOne key-ins, Macros or Function Keys.

Default: C:\vr\data\default.kp

Touch screen command file

This parameter defines the location of the Vr Touchscreen command file. This file contains button assignments for the Vr 567 button LCD touch pad. It is a text file and may be edited. It is suggested that the user use the editor provided with the touchscreen for editing and not to edit the text file directly.

Default: C:\vr\data\default.ts

Macro file

This parameter defines the location of the VrOne Macro file. Macros may contain key-ins, other Macros and (or) Function keys. It is a text file and may be edited. Each button may contain It is suggested that the user use the Edit Macro (EdiMac) editor provided with VrOne for editing and not to edit the text file directly.

Default: C:\vr\data\default.mac

Support macro arguments

If this is turned on, then any occurrence of %# (where # represents any number) will be replaced by the corresponding argument typed in after the macro command. Arguments must be separated by spaces. If an argument contains spaces it must be surrounded by quotes. For example, if a macro named "D" contains the text "DRI %1", and the user types in "D 10", then the command "DRI 10" will be issued.

Require PY command to run python scripts

If this is turned on, then you must use the PY command to run python scripts. For example, to run a python script named fixlines.py, you would enter the command “py fixlines”. If this is not on, then you can just type the name of the script to run it, assuming the script name does not match any other built-in command, function key, or macro name. For example, to run fixlines.py, you can type in “fixlines”.

Number of active VrOne applications

VrOne supports Application Overlaying in which multiple mapping applications may be active at the same time. These applications may overlay each other with the application at the top being the active application. This parameter set the maximum number of applications that can be active at one time up to a maximum of 20. When the application stack is full and another application is started the application at the bottom of the stack is terminated. When an application is terminated for any reason any current data is saved.

Default: 20

Coordinate display decimal placed in Main Window

This parameter sets the number of display position to the right of the decimal point for the Xyz coordinate displayed in the VrOne Main Window. The VrOne data base stores its Xyz positions as double-precision number which has an accuracy of approximately 14 decimal digits. The setting of this parameter does not change the way these numbers are stored in the data base it simply determines how to display them.

Default: 3

Screen number for dialog boxes

There are certain dialog boxes in VrOne that appear in the middle of the screen and do not remember their last position. These are normally temporary information or data entry dialog boxes. Since it’s possible to configure Windows to run more that one screen this parameter sets the screen number to display these dialog boxes. Your current screen number can be found by Right Clicking on the desktop and choosing Properties then pressing the Settings tab.

File Paths

File Paths define the directories that contain items such as Python scripts, Parallel Line parameter files and Batch Application parameter files. These File Path directories will be searched when one of these file are entered without a path.

For example:

If C:\jobs\Job1\Params was a search directory and an entry of ParFil=Job1.btr was entered in a Macro. This would result in c:\jobs\Job1\Params\Job1.btr being loaded if Job1.btr was in c:\jobs\Job1\Params.

NumLock Control

The NumLock Control conditions the system keyboard Number Lock depending on the status of the VrOne Application Stack. Using NumLock Control helps use the system keyboard keypad as a method to start VrOne commands and press one of the twelve VrOne buttons instead of using the F1-F12 buttons at the top of the keyboard. Options are:

• Yes – NumLock will be turned off when there are any applications on the stack. NumLock will be turned of when there are no applications on the stack. When NumLock if off then the keyboard keypad may be used as VrOne buttons 0-9, * and #.

• No – NumLock will not be changed.

Default: No

Correlation Settings

The Correlation Settings are used with the VrOne application Correlate Area (CorAre) and may be set here as defaults to this application.

Source patch size

The Source Patch Size sets the size of the smaller source patch of pixels that will be iterated through the Target Patch. The Source Patch will be from one photo, normally the left, and the Target Patch will be from the other photo, normally the right. The Source Patch Size should be an even multiple of the Target Patch. This parameter is entered as pixels.

Default: 20

Target patch width

The Target Patch Size sets the width of the larger target patch of pixels that the Source Patch will iterate through. The Source Patch will be from one photo, normally the left, and the Target Patch will be from the other photo, normally the right. The Source Patch Size should be an even multiple of the Target Patch. This parameter is entered as pixels.

Minimum correlation coefficient

The result of a correlation is the Correlation Coefficient. A Coefficient of 1.0 indicates a perfect match while values less than 0.9 indicate a less desirable result and values below 0.6 should be rejected. This parameter is the minimum correlation result that is acceptable. This parameter is entered as a reasonable coefficient value from 0.50 to 0.99.

Default: 0.92

Maximum ground distance

If the Xy distance of a new correlated point from the last accepted point is greater than the Maximum Ground Distance then the point is rejected. This parameter is entered as ground units.

Default: 50

Maximum elevation change

If the elevation distance of a new correlated point from the last accepted point is greater than the Maximum Elevation Change parameter then the point is rejected. This parameter is entered as ground units.

Default: 10