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InRoads v8 Overview

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InRoads v8

Delta Overview

InRoads v8 Overview

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THE INROADS SELECTCAD INTERFACE 4 THE SELECTCAD EXPLORER 4 SelectCAD Menu 4 When in Doubt: Right Mouse 5 INROADS SELECTCAD HELP 5

WORKING IN SELECTCAD 6

INROADS TOOLBARS 6 “FEATURES” OVERVIEW 6 WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FEATURES 6 LOCKS 7 ACTIVE FILTER/FILTER LOCK 7 STYLE LOCK 7 PEN/PENCIL, DELETE INK, AND WRITE LOCKS 8 LOCATE GRAPHICS/FEATURES 8 SNAP LOCK 8 STATION LOCK: 8 REPORT LOCK: 9 NAMED SYMBOLOGY 9 PREFERENCES 9 INROADS FILE OPERATIONS 10 OPENING 10 CREATING 11 SAVING 11 Labels vs. Filenames 11 FILE COMPATIBILITY 11

COMMON FORM CONTROLS 12

FORM LAYOUT 12 COMMON BUTTONS 12 EXAMPLE: VIEW PERIMETER 12 EDITING SYMBOLOGY 13 NAMED SYMBOLOGY 14 SETTING PREFERENCES 14 OVERVIEW 14 THE PREFERENCE FORM 14

TERRAIN MODELING 16

TRADITIONAL DIGITAL TERRAIN MODELING 16 TRIANGULATION 16 BREAKLINES 17 DISPLAYING TERRAIN INFORMATION 18

GEOMETRY OVERVIEW 22

GEOMETRY ORGANIZATION 22

InRoads v8 Overview


PASSIVE GEOMETRY COMMANDS 23

VIEWING THE GEOMETRY 23 VIEWING AND ANNOTATION COMMANDS 23 VIEW HORIZONTAL ANNOTATION FORM 24 THE MAIN TAB 24 OTHER TABS 24 GEOMETRIC STYLES 25 STATIONING 26 REVIEWING GEOMETRY 28 REPORTS 28 PROFILING 29 SOURCE: 29 SURFACE: 29 SYMBOLOGY: 29 VIEW VERTICAL ALIGNMENT 29

FEATURE-BASED DTM'S 30

WHY DO WE NEED FEATURE-BASED DTM'S? 30 LIMITATION OF TRADITIONAL TERRAIN MODELING 30 EXAMPLE: ELIMINATING SURVEY STUPIFICATION 30 META-DATA 30 WHAT IS A FEATURE? 31 CONCEPT 31 IMPLEMENTATION 31 Feature Meta-Data 31 DISPLAYING A FEATURE 31 CONCEPTS FOR DISPLAYING FEATURES 31 USING TRADITIONAL VS. FEATURE-BASED DTM 32 VIEWING FEATURES 33

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The InRoads SelectCAD Interface The SelectCAD products interact with the user via the SelectCAD Explorer, Windows dialog boxes (also called forms), and messages through the CADD package messaging system. The SelectCAD Explorer The primary interface is the SelectCAD Explorer, which is similar in function to the Windows (file system) Explorer delivered as part of the Windows operating system. The SelectCAD Explorer contains the InRoads Menu Bar at the top, data view panes in the middle, and a status bar on the bottom.

SelectCAD Menu In this manual, we will refer to the Menu Bar in the SelectCAD Explorer as the InRoads Menu Bar. References to commands located here will be preceded by InRoads> to distinguish them from commands accessible from the CADD package menu bar. Every InRoads command can be accessed from the InRoads Menu Bar. Menu Headings are broken down by functionality. In addition to working with a CADD file, the SelectCAD products also use a variety of data files. Engineering support files and their information are visible and accessible through the SelectCAD Explorer. Just like in Windows Explorer, double-clicking on the data type in the right panel or clicking on the plus in the left panel opens detailed information about that object. The SelectCAD products share Surface and Geometry Projects data types as well as use Preference files. In InRoads, SelectCAD also uses a Typical Section Library and Roadway Library. Storm&Sanitary uses a Drainage data type. When running together all the data types are used. The SelectCAD Explorer is an excellent tool to manage all the different file types associated with SelectCAD. A great deal of information can be easily viewed. In the screenshot below we can see that there are two surfaces open, that “class” is the active surface (it has the red border around the surface icon), and can see some information about the surface.

InRoads v8 Overview


When in Doubt: Right Mouse The SelectCAD Explorer interface has many of the same functionalities as Windows Explorer, including right-mouse button support and drag-and-drop. Clicking on an object with the right-mouse button reveals the most common actions associated with it. Note: objects in the left pane of the Explorer fully support right-mouse clicks; the right pane does not appear to be fully implemented For example, right-mouse clicking on the Geometry Projects object show five common commands, including New and Open.

The Actions shown for a given object varies to reflect common and appropriate activities for that object. When you have doubts about anything in the SelectCAD Explorer, click the right mouse button. InRoads SelectCAD Help The Help system, accessed from the menu bar, is very good. It is an invaluable source of detailed, immediate help.

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WORKING IN SELECTCAD InRoads Toolbars InRoads Commands are accessible from the InRoads SelectCAD Menu Bar or from Toolbars. Toolbars can be displayed via InRoads>Tools>Customize…

Checking any of the Toolbars invokes it. “Features” Overview Version 8 SelectCAD products use enhanced DTM’s which can contain tremendous amounts of data beyond the traditional definition of digital terrain models. Since a large amount and a wide variety of information can be stored in the DTM, good management tools become essential. Intergraph provides a structure system known as “Features.” Features are user-defined and extensively customizable. Feature types can include natural and artificial topologic information, such as trees, physical structures, and subsurface utilities. Feature-based or data-centric modeling, when taken advantage of, can significantly streamline workflows and minimize rework. For example, when the survey department shoots an area, they have codes for each type of terrain object. Currently, this model is broken up into different files that are only minimally used together. In some cases (WWF) the 3D topo information is squashed down to 2D and premanently lost. Feature-based DTM’s will make the 3D survey model available (in one file) throughout the design workflow. A number of new functionalities have been added throughout the SelectCAD products to help take advantage of this new data-centric “Feature” functionality, including a Symbology Manager, Feature Style Manager and a Preference Manager. Model (data) Editing Tools are available which allow automatic “redraws” of plan, profile, and cross-section graphics. Why you need to know about Features While Features will not be a major component of your COGO and Horizontal Alignment workflows, it is important to about Features because:

• Surface (DTM’s) may include relevant and useful information stored as Features.

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• DTM features may soon be a preferred way to save 3D terrain features and underground utilities. • knowing what Features and how SelectCAD handle feature will help troubleshooting when

SelectCAD behaves differently than you expect. Locks MicroStation has a number of “Locks” which affect how commands act. InRoads also has a number of Locks which affect how its commands act. Hint: You should always have the InRoads Locks dialog box visible (InRoads>Tools>Customize>>Toolbars). This makes troubleshooting much easier when what you expect to happen doesn’t.

Active Filter/Filter Lock Filters are pre-defined or user-defined groups of features to include or exclude with a command. For example a filter may include only Proposed or Design Features in a DTM, excluding everything other feature. Used extensively with the Surface>View Surface>Features… command. The drop-down list at the left of the Locks toolbar is the Active Filter, which is honored only when the first tool, Feature Lock, is ON. Features to be displayed with Filter Lock OFF: Features to be displayed with Filter Lock ON:

Style Lock

Most SelectCAD commands that display graphics do so according to Style definitions. There is typically a default Style associated with every feature. With Style Lock OFF, the user is given the chance to edit or change Styles (or other display settings) via an appropriate View form. The user must hit “Apply” in order for the graphics to display. With Style Lock ON, the feature is displayed immediately according to the

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Style associated with each feature. No intermediate View dialog box is invoked. This can significantly speed the process for repetitive tasks. Pen/Pencil, Delete Ink, and Write Locks

SelectCAD graphics are derived from data models in the various files (surface, geometry, etc.). This allows automatic deletes and updates. With Write Lock OFF the graphics are not written to the CADD file. For a complete discussion of the Write Lock, the Pen/Pencil Lock and Delete Ink, see the Help documentation. A good place to start is with the following setting: Pen/Pencil: Pen Delete Ink: ON Write Lock: ON Locate Graphics/Features

Displayed Surface graphics are a subset of all the features in a DTM (it might be a complete subset). When placing a data point to select a feature SelectCAD can select from Features that are currently displayed (Graphics Mode) or select the closes Feature in the DTM, whether it is displayed or not (Feature Mode). Snap Lock

Point Snap Mode: when placing points ON snaps to the nearest InRoads point; OFF takes the coordinate

from the Data Point (cursor, <D>). Element Snap: when ON snaps to the nearest element (often useful for getting bearings). Note Point

Snap and Element Snap are mutually exclusive. Snap Off: disable both Point and Element snap.

Station Lock:

snaps to even (divisible by 100) stations on alignment.

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Report Lock:

when ON functions supporting reports generate reports.

Named Symbology Any agency has a Symbology Table that list an object and its designated symbology. For example, WWF says proposed Manholes must be green on level 27, weight 9, etc. SelectCAD incorporates this Symbology Table into what is known as named symbology. It is managed with a Symbology Manager accessed via InRoads>Tools>Symbology Manager.

Preferences It is obvious that InRoads and the other SelectCAD products are exceedingly customizable. If the user had to set each variable in every design session, the actual design work would never even get started. SelectCAD keeps its settings in two primary files: a Preference file, usually civil.ini; and a (geometry) Style file, usually wysiwyg.ini. These text files follow the standard windows .ini file specification. The Preference file is a large file containing a default “preference set” for each command. Most commands can have multiple “preference set” defined. Most every command form has a Preference button, which invokes a Preference form from which the user can update, save and load preferences sets. While editable via a text editor, the proper way to update the information in these files is through the SelectCAD program. See the online help for more information about Preferences. By default SelectCAD loads the civil.ini and wysiwyg.ini from the windows system folder. Use the Right Mouse Button to load or save a different file.

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InRoads File Operations Opening Empty projects show Surfaces and Geometry Projects named Default. While it is possible to work in these default files, it is not a good idea to do so. To open an existing file, select File>Open from the InRoads SelectCAD Menu Bar. This is a standard Windows File>Open Dialog box. By clicking on the drop-down list at the “Files of Type” field, you may open a file type of your choice. Open files will be reflected in the InRoads Explorer Window.

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Creating Creating new files is done similarly, File>New, then selecting the type. Filling in the name field is required. Descriptions are useful. Note: this creates slots in memory, the files are not saved permanently until saved via the File>Save command. Data structures in the Geometry Project consist of COGO Points, Horizontal and Vertical Alignments and superelevation information. Horizontal Alignments are composed of COGO points connected by tangents, curves and spirals and some associated off-alignment points (centers of curves, etc.).

Saving Files are saved using the InRoads>File>Save As… commands. Labels vs. Filenames The filename and the label shown in the SelectCAD Explorer do not have to be the same. The label is referred to by SelectCAD as the “Name” of the data. It and the Description can be changed via the appropriate Rename command, found under the respective heading. For example to Rename a Geometry Project use InRoads>Geometry>Rename. Save the .alg file using InRoads>File>Save>Geometry. Note: this does not change the filename. File Compatibility InRoads version 8 files tend to have additional data and capabilities than earlier versions. As such, earlier versions cannot read the version 8 files. During file saving operations, files can be saved to version 7.x or earlier format by hitting the “Options… ” button. This invokes the format Options form:

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COMMON FORM CONTROLS Form Layout The SelectCAD command forms (or dialog boxes) share common controls and behaviors. Forms can group common functions under Tabs. Clicking on a tab reveals controls under the tab. Controls can be further segregated by placing them in Frames. Below is a simple form, View Surface. It is typical of how Intergraph implements its forms.

Common Buttons The View Perimeter form has tabs, a frame, and four very common command buttons:

• Help: invokes the help form, opened to the topic appropriate to the form. • Apply: executes the command according to settings under all the tabs on a form. • Close: closes the form without executing the command. • Preferences… : invokes the Preference form, from which the user can load predefined Named

settings for the controls on the form. This form also allows saving the current form's settings as a Named preference. This information is stored in the Preference file (civil.ini).

Example: View Perimeter The Main tab groups the most often used command together, the more esoteric commands are "hidden" under the "Advanced" tab. Another advantage of tab groupings is that tabs may identical across a number of forms. For example, the Advanced tab is identical across many of the View Surface commands.

The Surface: listbox is a typical control on commands that can work on one of a number of objects, such as alignments and surfaces. Typically the Active Surface (or Active Alignment) is the default in the listbox.

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Clicking on the listbox and selecting a different available object make the command work on the newly selected object. The Symbology frame is common on forms that display graphics. While "Perimeter" is the only Object listed here, other commands can list over a dozen. Forms with multiple objects in the symbology frame often have a checkbox preceding the Object which controls whether the object is displayed or not. Editing Symbology Double-Clicking on an Object in the Symbology frame or selecting an Object then hitting the Edit.. button invokes the Symbology form for that object type (Line, Point, Text). The symbology values can be set individually or a by selecting a Named Symbology which has the settings pre-defined. Using Named Symbology, when set to department standards, provides dramatically better flexibility and quality control.

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Named Symbology Any agency has a Symbology Table that list an object and its designated symbology. For example, a curb line my be required to be on level 11, color 20, with a weight of 2 in plan view. It may or may not have the same symbology requirements for display in Profile or Cross-Sections. SelectCAD manages these element symbology requirements into what is known as Named Symbology. It is managed with a Symbology Manager accessed via InRoads>Tools>Symbology Manager.

Setting Preferences Overview Even on simpler forms, having to check or set every toggle, can be time-consuming. Just about every setting on most every form can be stored as a default or for later retrieval. SelectCAD manages these settings through what are known as Preference Sets. Preference Sets exist for every form that has a Preference command button. The Preference Sets are stored in a Preference file, which by default is the civil.ini file in the operating system folder (c:\winnt). On an application level, the disparate Preference Sets can be managed through the Preference Manager found under InRoads>Tools. The Preference Form By clicking the "Preferences… " command button on a form the Preferences form is invoked.

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The "Name" box lists the defined Preference sets. "Load" sets the form controls to the settings stored in the highlighted Preference. "Save" stores the active form settings in the highlighted Preferences. "Save As… " stores the active settings in a new Preference with a Name keyed in by the user. "Delete" deletes the highlighted Preference. By default, the default preference is default. (Tangent: this is typical of SelectCAD: there is a way to make the default preference something other than default (the Preferred Preference Name under the Settings Category in InRoads>Tools>Options>>General.) By saving the active settings to the "default" Preference, these settings will be the default settings henceforth. Note: the user must have write-access to the active preference file to save settings. A new, custom Preference file can be saved by right-clicking the Preference file in the SelectCAD Explorer and then clicking the "Save As… " item.

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TERRAIN MODELING Anyone associated with Civil Engineering recognizes what the screenshot below represents.

The contour map is perhaps the primary way to represent three dimensional terrain in two dimensions. A Digital Terrain Model is an electronic representation of a 3D surface, typically existing or proposed terrain. All DTM formats start with a basic unit of a 3D point. While some vendors offer such sophisticated algorithms as Finite Element Analysis, the vast majority of models are based on triangles of 3D points. A triangle of lines between any three non-collinear 3D points forms a plane. Four points form two planes; five points, 3 planes, etc. Any contiguous set of triangles creates a planar model of a surface. From that basic theory, there are many ways vendors implement Digital Terrain Models. While the SelectCAD products support a large number of DTM formats, the current version 8 *.dtm format is the most robust. All other supported formats support lesser subsets of functionality, from version 7.x and less *.dtm and *.ttn files at the high end to the text x, y, z files at the low end. We will break our discussion of Intergraph's version 8 DTM implementation into two parts: traditional surface modeling and the new Feature Modeling. Modeling Features is new to version 8. Version 7.x and earlier support only the traditional surface modeling. Version 8 surfaces can be exported to earlier .dtm formats via an option on the File>Save As>Surface form. Traditional Digital Terrain Modeling Triangulation Creating triangles from points is known as triangulation. It can be a somewhat arbitrary process. SelectCAD uses Delauney's Criteria to create triangles that tend to be short as opposed to elongated. Nonetheless, given four points there are two different ways to create two triangles amongst them. It is impossible to design an algorithm so that the software selects the triangle combination that models the terrain most accurately, purely from the point data. Here's a good example of why it's impossible for the software to model surfaces correctly without help from beyond the points alone. Take a standard 8 ½" x 11" sheet of paper. Let's assume that the corners

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represent the position of survey shots. Let's further assume that the upper left and lower right corners have elevations of 100 and the upper right and lower left corners have elevations of 95. There are two combinations of triangles that can be "drawn" between the points. The common triangle boundary can run along either diagonal, that connecting the 95 elevations or connecting the 100 elevations. The model will either be of a 100' elevation crestline or a 95' elevation trough. Which is correct?

The actual terrain might be either. Just as it's impossible for you to tell from the points that a crest or a trough exists in the field, it is impossible for a computer to make this decision accurately. The only way to know how to model this is to know what actually exists in the field. How do you (or the surveyor) force the software to triangulate correctly? Breaklines Breaklines are the method that most triangle-based DTM's use to tell the software how to model the surface. A breakline is a way to tell the software to how to triangulate. Breaklines document a linear relationship between points. By definition, triangles cannot cross a breakline. In the example above, if the four points represented a 100' elevation crest, a breakline would be define between the 100' elevation points. If the four points represent a 95' elevation ditch, a breakline would be defined between the 95' points. Additional minor point types used by SelectCAD include:

• exterior, which limit triangulation along the perimeter; • interior, which exclude areas within the limits of the surveyed area (lakes, inaccessible areas, etc.);

and

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• contour, which call special triangulation algorithms which provide accurate triangulation from contours.

Given 3D points and breaklines (and a properly-executed survey, of course), a very accurate surface model consisting of networked triangles can be created very quickly. The core unit of SelectCAD digital terrain model is the triangle. Most of the surface functionalities, such as contours and slope vectors, are derived from the triangle model. Unlike old, manual methods, the digital terrain model is truly a three dimensional model. Displaying the triangles reveals a 3D wireframe model of the terrain (if you rotate the view towards an isometric view, render the view, and squint, you can see the terrain relief). Each vertex of every triangle represents a survey point. Placing a tentative point at the vertex echoes the x, y, z coordinates. Contours and other displays are also displayed at correct elevations. Displaying Terrain Information The InRoads>Surface>View Surface menu and the View Surface Toolbar access almost all of the Surface View commands. The most often used are Perimeter, Triangles, and Contours.

Selecting InRoads>Surface>View Surface>Perimeter invokes the View Perimeter form. Selecting a Surface and hitting Apply will display the exterior boundary of the surface.

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Selecting InRoads>Surface>View Triangles invokes the View Perimeter form, which is similar to the View Perimeter form. The addition of the Fence Mode enables displaying triangles inside or outside of a fenced area. Since surfaces often contain over 100,000 triangles, this can save a lot of time. The triangles are drawn at their correct 3D coordinates. Triangles are the primary representation of the digital terrain model.

Close up:

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Selecting InRoads>Surface>View Contours invokes the View Contours form. Since there are many ways to displays to display contours, there are more options on the form. Of primary importance are the Interval and Minors per Major fields.

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The Advanced tab contains many controls for fine-tuning the contour and contour label display. Of particular importance are the "Smooth" contour checkbox and the Label Contours "Spacing" field (the lower the number, the greater the label density). Contour Label symbology is set in the Symbology frame on the Main tab.

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GEOMETRY OVERVIEW Geometry Organization SelectCAD organization of geometry is not dissimilar to non-electronic organization of geometry. The highest order grouping is a Geometry Project which consists of Horizontal Alignments and Coordinate Geometry points. SelectCAD groups its COGO points into what it calls the project COGO Buffer. Like manual methods, one or more Vertical Alignments are associated with a Horizontal Alignment. One or more Superelevation definitions can also be associated with a Horizontal Alignment. The SelectCAD Explorer screenshot to the right shows the loaded Geometry files. “Default” is always available, but should seldom be used. The “existing” Geometry Project contains a number of horizontal alignments, two of which contain vertical alignments and a superelevation definition. With multiple objects of a given type, SelectCAD works by default on an what is known as the Active object. Active objects are designated by the red border around the icon. In this example, “existing” is the active Geometry Project, “Pilot Road” is the active Horizontal Alignment, “Pilot Road” is the active Vertical Alignment, and “Pilot Road” is the active Superelevation definition. This data is stored in a *.alg file.

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PASSIVE GEOMETRY COMMANDS Viewing the Geometry Geometric graphics and the data stored as part of the Geometry Project are not the same thing. InRoads maintains a double-precision “database” of the geographic information. Graphics can be derived from that “database.” Deleting graphics does nothing to the InRoads data. InRoads can make use of information from graphics, but all required data is stored in the .alg file. This is different paradigm than CADD packages where the graphic IS the information. Viewing and Annotation Commands View and Annotate Geometry commands can be accessed via InRoads>Geometry>View Geometry

or from the View Geometry Toolbar

which is accessible via InRoads>Tools>Customize>>Toolbars>View Geometry. The item order for the menu and the toolbar is identical. Display Active Horizontal Alignment immediately draws the active horizontal alignment in the InRoads geometry file.

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View Horizontal Annotation Form The third item is Annotate Geometry, which is used to invoke the View Horizontal Annotation dialog box. This is a versatile command. It displays any or all available horizontal alignments or COGO points, and associated objects, in addition conjunction with the annotation. The Main tab The Main tab contains controls for displaying points and alignments (Mode). How the points and elements are displayed is controlled by the Style list box. See the following section for an explanation of Geometric Styles. Which points or alignments to display is controlled by the Annotate Keyin field. Wildcards can be used in the Annotate field to select multiple entities. The locator button to the right of the Annotate keyin in can be used to select the alignment or point closes to the cursor (subject to the Feature/Graphic lock mode). The Selected: text box lists the entities that will be displayed upon Apply. The Display frame has toggles to designate what elements to display. The Apply button will execute point or alignment display based on the settings active on all the tabs. Other tabs The Annotate tab has toggles for Annotating element types and for providing annotation tables. The Active Styles Tab allows the user to change the active style settings for the various horizontal geometry elements, only if the Apply Style list on the Main tab is set to “Active.” A good use for this is to set curve or spiral styles to different colors than the line styles. The Tabling tab allows customization of Annotation Table settings.

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Geometric Styles The Style Manger, accessible via InRoads> Geometry>View Geometery >Geometry Style Manager, is used to define how geometry and its annotation is displayed. It provides the ability to customize the symbology of the elements, as well as what information is annotated and how. Many styles come pre-defined. New styles are easily created (though management of all the styles can be cumbersome). The Styles could be set up so that the information is displayed in complete conformance to city standards. In the meantime, we will use the default styles.

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Stationing Alignment Stations can be displayed via the InRoads>Geometry>View Geometry>Stationing… command. Like most InRoads commands, this is extremely customizable and, therefore, has a mind-numbing number of switches and dials and buttons by which to customize the results. The Main Tab contains the pick list to choose which Horizontal Alignment to Station. Other highlights include the Interval keyin and the Symbology frame which allows defining whether to (check box) and how to (symbology settings) display the various stationing elements.

The Regular Station tab holds the controls for the major and minor stationing elements that occur at the Interval specified on the Main form. Settings for the orientation, direction, justification, format, precision and other elements of the station callouts and tick marks are found here. The Minors/Major ration is set here.

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Controls in the additional tabs are similar in format to those Regular Stations allow customization for labels and leaders for :

• Cardinal Stations points defining the alignment such as POB, PC, PI, PT, POE, etc. • PI’s defines how the PI labels appear • Station Equations user defined points where the station is redefined • Radius + A labels radius for curves and “infinity” for tangents • Event Points user defined points of interest such as monuments or minimum clearance

points, etc. An example of the results of the stationing command is shown below:

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Reviewing Geometry

Quality Control practices dictate that somebody has to review the geometry. To complement the robust annotation commands, the Review Geometry toolbar contains the Review COGO Point, Review Horizontal Alignment, and Review Vertical Alignment tools. These provide the ability to review, in some cases edit,

and in some cases report on InRoads geometry. Reports We know that InRoads keeps a sophisticated double-precision “database” of geometric information in a file with the extension .alg. As with most “databases,” the format used by the software is completely unsuitable for use by humans. There are a number of formats that humans, especially managerial humans and construction humans, prefer to use. The first, especially useful in spatial endeavors, is the graphic plan (and profile) view. The other is text reports. One sign of a good software package is its ability to provide information to the user in an effective manner. InRoads provides several electronic libraries of report templates pre-formatted to meet the needs of thousands of AEC professionals. InRoads also provides an interface to custom reporting software to provide any special or non-standard reports The reporting interface can be invoked via InRoads>Tools>Reports. The Report Library should default to <path>\geo.dba. Select the Report Type, then the Report (template). Click the Help button for full explanations of the Report Types. Note: the Reports should match up with the Report Type, but it is possible to select a Report template that is inappropriate for the Report Type. This results in gibberish in the generated report. Retry with a different combination. Some of the more useful reports are basic Horizontal Alignment descriptions, Legal Descriptions, Coordinate listings, Clearance and Station Offset reports.

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Profiling Given a Horizontal Alignment and a surface model, use the InRoads>Evaluation>Profile>Create Profile command to generate a ground profile along the alignment. This is another highly customizable command that has a plethora of tabs and toggles, checkboxes and keyins.

The Main tab is broken down by function into the frames summarized below. Source: Alignment: select an alignment from the active Geometry Project using this option. Graphics: this option will cut a profile along a graphic selected by the user (very handy!) Multi-Point: a quick way to get a profile along a corridor. InRoads will place a generate a profile along a path defined by the user placing data points <D>’s (a reset <R> ends the path). ASCII: displays a profile from a text file with station, elevation lines. Network: used with Storm&Sanitary to profile along a network Surface: Highlighted surfaces show in the profile (use CTRL key to select multiple surfaces). Symbology: On/Off checkbox in front of each object controls whether the object appears in profile. Double-clicking an item or hitting the Edit key invokes the symbology form for that object. View Vertical Alignment Displaying Vertical Alignments is similar to Horizontal. A Profile must exist for the parent Horizontal.

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FEATURE-BASED DTM'S Why Do We Need Feature-Based DTM's? The goal of traditional digital terrain modeling is to produce an accurate electronic model of an existing or proposed ground surface. Feature-based terrain modeling goes way beyond that. The goal of Feature-based DTM's is to provide a repository of ANY geospatial information related to a site. In traditional modeling, a point could be added to the surface and incorporated into the triangulated model. Linear features could be added as breaklines. There were two primary drawbacks to this method. 1) points were stored as random or spot points without an appropriate way to designate one from the other, and 2) all points and lines were assumed to be at-grade and automatically incorporated into the (ground) surface model. Limitation of Traditional Terrain Modeling These two limitation lead limited the usefulness of traditional DTM's strictly to ground surface models. They were not a good place to store information. They were not suitable for storing any information that was not at-grade. By providing an information management interface and removing the at-grade requirement, the new Feature-based DTM's allow the modeling of:

• Ground surface (traditional DTM's) • Point features (objects, appurtenances, structures, valves) • On-grade Linear features (curblines, roadway striping, edges of pavement) • Subsurface linear feautres (buried utilities) • Above grade features (overhead power lines, clotheslines) • 2D point or linear features • a whole lot more

and stores the information in a flexible, powerful, and accessible manner. Example: Eliminating Survey Stupification An example of how Feature-based DTM's can improve the workflow and eliminate unnecessary work is the survey-to-design data transfer process. Currently field surveys are feature-based. For every shot a surveyor takes, he keys in a field code which defines what type of "feature" the shot represents. Code SMIE might represent a sewer manhole invert elevation, FOC the face of curb, etc. When the survey file is transferred from the electronic field book to a dgn format point and linear features are imported into a dgn file according to a predefined feature symbology definition. Except for their discrete symbology, the graphics are dumb. During the creation of the older DTM's all the intelligence is stripped from the points and breaklines. An integrated, intelligent model of the field survey, gets translated and "stupified" into to dumb and disparate data formats. In some departments, the 3D graphics get planarized to 2D. The new Feature-based DTM's store all the information from the survey and model the ground surface in a single file that can be used throughout the workflow. No "stupifying" occurs. The problem with stupification is not so much the time required to stupify data, it's the time it takes to reintegrate the dumb data from the source when the original intelligence is required. This is an ever-increasing occurrence as agencies move to enterprise-wide data models. Meta-Data Let's introduce the concept of meta-data. "Meta" is a prefix meaning "about." Meta-data means "data about the data." In traditional DTM's there was very little meta-data associated with a point. It consisted of the point type (random, breakline, interior, etc) and next point in the linestring if it is a linestring. That is not much meta-data. In the new feature-based DTM's there is much more meta-data associated with each point, and, correspondingly, a more sophisticated interface to manage and manipulate the data via the meta-data.

InRoads v8 Overview


What is a Feature? Concept In a nutshell: think of a feature as a point or linestring stored with a good amount of meta-data. Implementation The feature data and meta-data perform a number of functions including

1) allowing the object to be accurately modeled in 3D, 2) providing object management tools, 3) providing a methodology to control display of the object, and 4) providing information on how to model the object relative to the traditional DTM implementation.

Feature Meta-Data The "meta-data" (data about the data) associated with a feature consists of A Name for the object/element/feature An association with a Feature Style that defines how and when the object/element/feature is displayed To control integration with the surface triangulation, the following can be defined

• A Point Type (random, breakline,) • An option to "Exclude from Triangulation" • Maximum Segment Length • Point Density Interval.

Learning to understand and take advantage of all the functionality of Features would take a 3-day class by itself. Learning what features are, how to select them, and how to display them is sufficient for the scope of this class and the current workflow. Displaying a Feature Concepts for Displaying Features

• Every point in the .dtm is associated with a named feature. • A Feature has a Feature Style associated with it which controls the symbology of the graphic and

whether the graphic appears in plan, cross-section, both, or neither. • A Feature Style definition is stored in the civil.ini file. It refers to a Named Symbology which

defines the symbology for Points, Lines, and Text, for the Feature in Plan, Profile, or Cross-Section (they can be different). If a Feature in a .dtm refers to a Feature Style that does not exist in the civil.ini file, the Default Feature Style is used to display the Feature.

• Feature Filters exist to limit which Features are Displayed during a View Feature command. The Feature Filter is active ONLY when the Filter Lock is ON.

InRoads v8 Overview

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Using Traditional vs. Feature-based DTM The screenshot below shows points and breaklines to the level of differentiation typical of the traditional DTM's, since they can only segregate by type.

The screenshot below shows the same surface with a higher level of differentiation possible with Feature-based DTM's.

InRoads v8 Overview


There is no limit to the number of Feature Styles definable by the user, and, therefore, no limit to the differentiation possible. Differentiation in definition also provides greater control in WHAT is selected in addition to HOW it is displayed. In the View Features (InRoads>Surface>View Surface>Features… ) command, Features can be selected individually or via user-definable Feature Filters. Viewing Features Below is an example of the View Features command with the Filter Lock ON and OFF. Surface Features with Filter Lock OFF:

Surface Features with Filter Lock ON:

InRoads v8 Overview

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inroads v8 delta overview - civilxlr8.com v8 overview.pdf · inroads v8 overview 2 the inroads...

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