Where On Earth Is This Data?

One of the simplest things that we can do for our drawings that will make them significantly more useful is to assign a Geodetic Zone - Category & Coordinate System for the drawing. If we then use the state plane coordinate data as opposed to an assumed coordinate we will be able to...

1. Intermingle/Gathering data from various other Coordinate Systems seamlessly.
2. Transfer Civil Data from Civil 3D to Google Earth more accurately (vs. UTM or Lat/Long data)

The steps as outline in HELP are as follows:

1. In Toolspace, on the Settings tab, right-click the drawing and click Edit Drawing Settings.
2. In the Drawing Settings dialog box, click the Units and Zone tab.
3. Under Drawing Units, select either Feet or Meters.
4. Under Angular Units, select an angle format.
5. Under Scale, select a scale.
6. From the Categories list, select a zone category.
7. Categories include Lat/Longs, US states, and so on.

When you select a category, the Available Coordinate Systems list displays all the defined zones in that category.

Tip: If you know the coordinate system (CS) code for a zone, you can enter it in the CS Code text box and click OK to select the zone.

8. Select the zone.
9. Click OK.



I did not know what the ground coordinates were for the location of the KETIV Technologies offices here in Fullerton, CA. I did know that we were in NAD83 California State Planes, Zone VI, US Foot (AKA. CA83-VIF). By assigning this to a drawing and some trial and error with the "Publish to Google Earth..." command I now know that the center of our offices are at...

X = 6064787.1131 Y = 2265863.0846 or
Northing = 2,265,863 Easting = 6,064,787

By assigning the Category and Coordinate System my drawing now knows where in the world it is.



Note: Obviously, if all we know is an assumed coordinate location this is NOT possible.

LandXML Revisited

What is Land XML? LandXML is a non-proprietary data standard created by a consortium of industry partners to share (import/export) "civil engineering data".

What type of data? Currently, LandXML 1.0, supports Cogo Points, Point Groups, Surfaces, Watersheds, Parcels, Alignments, Alignment Profiles, Alignment Cross Sections, and Pipe Networks. Shortly, 1.1 will addtionally support survey and corridors model data.

How do we use it? In Civil 3D from the "General" menu pulldown select "Import LandXML..." or "Export LandXML..."

What can we do with it? It can be used for any of the following:

1. To transfer data from a supported software application to another supported application (like LDt to Civil 3D).

2. To convert data from imperial units to metric or vice versa (automatically).

3. To globally translate/rotate coordinates (via settings).

4. To archive data at important milestones.

5. To generate reports about civil objects/data (via LandXML Reporting).

6. To allow 3D viewing of civil objects/data in a LandXML viewer (such as Autodesk Envision 8).

Six years after in was introduced it is amazing that MANY groups that would clearly benefit from the use of LandXML do not know of it's existance. Many people have dropped the ball on this one.

For example, I have used LandXML to export civil data from corrupt Civil 3D drawings and then imported the data into a clean new drawing. Problem solved.

Click on the title of this post to get to the LandXLM.org website and see examples, list of support software, and other facts.

I am revisting this topic for a few reasons. The first is because I am adding information to it. The second is because when someone does a "SEARCH THIS BLOG", via the button in the upper left hand corner, for any topic of interest, the search mechanism only goes back one year and the original post was on Feb. 14, 2005 (a little more than 1 year ago). Thirdly, because it has been one of the most viewed posts of all time (within this blog of course). Lastly, I am revisiting this subject because LandXML 1.1 is within days (weeks?) of being ratified and it will include additional capabilities.

LandXML

Although, it has been around since Land Desktop Release 2i as an extension (this was version 0.88) and Land Desktop 3.01 in its current version (version 1.0) LandXML is not often the first solution users think of when it is necessary to transfer data between different applications, or between different offices or users.

LandXML is a non-proprietary data standard created by a consortium of industry partners.

It can be used for any of the following:

1. To transfer data from a supported software application to another supported application (like LDt to Civil 3D).

2. To archive data at important milestones.

3. To convert data from imperial units to metric or vice versa.

4. To globally translate/rotate coordinates.

Click on the title of this post to get to the LandXLM.org website.