I've been using Codes in J-Field for quite a while now, but recently I've been experimenting with some new approaches to working with Codes. Like many surveyors, I use Carlson Software for my office calculations and drafting. Carlson Survey has quite a few wonderful features that make it popular for land surveyors, one of which is Field-to-Finish.
With Field-to-Finish, users can collect points with action codes that generate lines and symbols automatically. For projects with multiple symbols and lines, this can provide tremendous improvement to efficiency, as well as increasing accuracy in line connections and symbol insertions.
Prior to adopting J-Field as my primary data collection software, I used Carlson SurvCE, and would consider myself an advanced user of Field-to-Finish coding and was always pleased with the power it provided. I could survey sites with incredibly complex topographic features and produce compete topographic maps 50-80% faster than when I would manually connect lines and add symbols. In my opinion, however, J-Field is far superior to Carlson's Field-to-Finish regarding linework generation. Rather than relying on codes to create lines and curves, operators create lines and curves in J-Field by switching from Point to Line or Curve in the Collect Action Screen (button just below the on-screen Start button).
The linework is then exporting directly as a dwg or dxf file from the (or even LandXML, KML or Shapefile), requiring no action codes or processing. Each polyline is referred to as a Tag in J-Field. Points have Point Names and polylines have Tags. The generic name of a tag is DefTag[number], where [number] is the number of the line. The default code for a default tag is DefCode. We'll return to the Code used for a Tag in a below.
Codes are very powerful. They organize collection of data in a way many surveyors are unaccustomed. A code can contain numerous attributes. These attribute tables can provide a fast, consistent method for describing an object. A code for water utility could have attribute labels for object, owner, size, depth, material (and more). As attributes are continually entered, the available list of choices grow: Water Meter, Water Valve, Fire Hydrant, PVC Pipe, etc. If the list does not have the desired attribute, the user manually enters it and the new entry is added to the list. Next time the new entry will be a selectable item from the attribute library.
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With Field-to-Finish, users can collect points with action codes that generate lines and symbols automatically. For projects with multiple symbols and lines, this can provide tremendous improvement to efficiency, as well as increasing accuracy in line connections and symbol insertions.
Prior to adopting J-Field as my primary data collection software, I used Carlson SurvCE, and would consider myself an advanced user of Field-to-Finish coding and was always pleased with the power it provided. I could survey sites with incredibly complex topographic features and produce compete topographic maps 50-80% faster than when I would manually connect lines and add symbols. In my opinion, however, J-Field is far superior to Carlson's Field-to-Finish regarding linework generation. Rather than relying on codes to create lines and curves, operators create lines and curves in J-Field by switching from Point to Line or Curve in the Collect Action Screen (button just below the on-screen Start button).
The linework is then exporting directly as a dwg or dxf file from the (or even LandXML, KML or Shapefile), requiring no action codes or processing. Each polyline is referred to as a Tag in J-Field. Points have Point Names and polylines have Tags. The generic name of a tag is DefTag[number], where [number] is the number of the line. The default code for a default tag is DefCode. We'll return to the Code used for a Tag in a below.
Codes are very powerful. They organize collection of data in a way many surveyors are unaccustomed. A code can contain numerous attributes. These attribute tables can provide a fast, consistent method for describing an object. A code for water utility could have attribute labels for object, owner, size, depth, material (and more). As attributes are continually entered, the available list of choices grow: Water Meter, Water Valve, Fire Hydrant, PVC Pipe, etc. If the list does not have the desired attribute, the user manually enters it and the new entry is added to the list. Next time the new entry will be a selectable item from the attribute library.
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