Shape In

Vr Mapping

ON-LINE REFERENCE DOCUMENTATION

CARDINAL SYSTEMS, LLC

www.cardinalsystems.net

The Shapefile format is used by ArcView GIS software sold by ESRI corporation. At the time of this writing, a free Shapefile viewer named ArcExplorer was available for download at the ESRI web site at the following Location.

"A shapefile stores non-topological geometry and attribute information for the spatial features in a data set. The geometry for a feature is stored as a shape comprising a set of vector coordinates. Because shapefiles do not have the processing overhead of a topological data structure, they have advantages over other data sources such as faster drawing speed and edit ability. Shapefiles handle single features that overlap or that are noncontiguous. They also typically require less disk space and are easier to read and write. Shapefiles can support point, line, and area features. Area features are represented as closed loop, double-digitized polygons. Attributes are held in a dBASE® format file. Each attribute record has a one-to-one relationship with the associated shape record."

A shapefile consist of one main file, one index file, and one dBASE table file. All file names adhere to the 8.3 naming convention. The main file, the index file, and the dBASE file have the same prefix. The prefix must start with an alphanumeric character (a–Z, 0–9), followed by zero or up to seven characters (a–Z, 0–9, _, -). The suffix for the main file is .shp. The suffix for the index file is .shx. The suffix for the dBASE table is .dbf. NOTE: The 8 character limit on filenames has been removed, and ShpIn supports the longer filenames.

Main file:	counties.shp
Index file:	counties.shx
dBASE table:	counties.dbf

Shapefiles may only contain one feature per file. Multiple shape files may be translated into a single VrOne file, or they may be split out into separate VrOne files. The following shape file types are supports: 2D Polyline, 3D Polyline, 2D Polygon, 3D polygon, 2D Point, 3D Point.

Fields associated with entities in the Shape files may be cross-referenced to VrOne entity attributes.

NOTE: Only entities that are on layers contained in the Layer Cross-Reference table will be considered for translation.

Load Parameters	Record Parameters	Init Parameters
Edit Parameters	Edit Feature Names	Cross-Reference Layers
Cross-Reference Line Fonts	Cross-Reference Symbols	Cross-Reference Symbols
ScanShapeFiles

Initializes translation parameters to default values. NOTE: Current translation parameters will be lost.

If set on, will write shape files to separate VrOne files based on the settings in the Filenames cross-reference settings. If off, then all shapefiles will be translated into the currently open VrOne file.

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.

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.

This is used to parse out the main shapefile names from the shape file prefixes. This is used when cross-referencing shape files to VrOne files. The output VrOne file names will be based on the bases shapefile name if this character is set correctly. For example, if you added two shapefiles named job1_pt.shp and job1_ln.shp to the input filenames table, and the separator character was set to “_”, then they would both translated into a VrOne file names job1.vr. Without the separator character specified, they would translate to job1_pt.vr and job1_ln.vr.

Allows editing of feature name fields that correspond to VrOne entity attributes. Layer, Graphic Pointer (Line Font/Symbol Name), Non-Graphic Pointer, Feature Code, Rotation, Pen Number, Radius, and Width attributes may all be mapped from feature attributes in the shapefile database. For instance, if there is a shapefile attribute field named Layer that contains layer numbers, it can cross-referenced to the Layer attribute for each VrOne entity.

This list box displays the VrOne attributes that can be cross-referenced from shapefile feature fields. Clicking an entry will copy the settings to the Shape File Feature fields where they may be changed. Always press the “Change” button after completing any edits.

Defines the name of the shapefile database field used for the selected VrOne attribute. Any name longer than 10 characters will be truncated.

If this is on and the field type if Float, then the attribute will be treated as a rotation angle and converted according to the Angle settings below. This allows rotation values stored in the Shapefile to be translated to Vrone rotation angles correctly. You may need to experiment with the angle conversion settings to get the correct settings to match the rotation of symbols in VrOne.

Defines the input units when converting attributes to angles. This can be Degrees or Radians. Only used if “Use Angle Conversions” is on.

Defines the input angle direction when converting attributes to angles. This can be CW (clockwise) or CCW (counterclockwise). Only used if “Use Angle Conversions” is on.

Defines the input angle starting direction. This can be North, East, South, or West. Only used if “Use Angle Conversions” is on.

This dialog defines the settings for the cross-referencing of shapefile values to VrOne layer numbers. The attribute field name for Layers is defined in the Edit Feature Names dialog.

An easy way to define this table is supplied by using the Scan Shape Files option. This scans the currently selected Shape files and creates a layer cross-reference entry for each layer used. NOTE: A cross-reference for the VrOne Layer attribute must be defined in the Vr Feature names cross-reference first.

This dialog defines the settings for the cross-referencing to VrOne line fonts from the line font attribute values in the shapefile database. The attribute field name for Line Fonts (also known as Graphic Pointer) is defined in the Edit Feature Names dialog.

This list box displays the VrOne line font names for the current VrOne symbol file. Clicking an entry will copy the settings to the Shape File Feature fields where they may be changed.

Defines the value to be placed in the line font graphics pointer attribute field for each occurrence of this line font.

This dialog defines the settings for the cross-referencing to VrOne line fonts from attribute values in the shapefile database. The attribute field name for Symbol Fonts (also known as Graphic Pointer) is defined in the Edit Feature Names dialog.

This list box displays the VrOne line font names for the current VrOne symbol file. Clicking an entry will copy the settings to the Shape File Feature fields where they may be changed.

Defines the value to be placed in the symbol graphics pointer attribute field for each occurrence of this symbol.

Scans all shape files list in the “Define Input Filenames” dialog and copies the layers used to the layer cross-reference table. “Cross-Reference Layers" may be used to cross-reference shapefile attribute values to VrOne layer numbers.