Creating points groups for points with many different descriptions

[JohnHaberman]

Is there a way to create a point group where the points only have to meet a part of the description instead of the whole thing?

 

I came into this land survey company 3 months ago and the field crews have been lax in the past and have been using many different descriptions for the same type of land marks (i.e. FOUND STONE MOUND, FND ROCK MOUND, FND RK MND, etc.) We are trying to move to Civil3D 2011 from LDD 2000 and I am trying to create the templates, complete with point groups and labels. I want to get all of the items in the points group, but without having to enter all the possible variations of descriptions (there are to many to count, and they've used them all.) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you in advance for you help.

 

John Haberman

[sinc]

I think the only sane way to approach this is to get all your field guys to use the same codes.

 

Also, keep in mind that if you're using Civil 3D, description keys end at spaces. So you would basically need a code more like "ROCKMOUND", rather than "FOUND ROCK MOUND".

 

Depending on your field hardware/software, you may be able to define all your description keys in Civil 3D, then dump them into your data collectors. Then your field guys can just select them from the list. That helps eliminate the chaotic coding.

[Kapanther]

Im not entirely sure what sinc is talking about. However it is possible to create point group in civil 3d by only matching part of the description.

 

Under the point group properties go to the 'include' tab.

 

Under 'with raw descriptions matching' you can type multiple codes to look for.

 

Lets say you want all the kerb strings to be in one group. You would type

KL*, KI*, KF*,KB*

 

If the code is not always at the start of the description you could type

*KL*, *KI*, *KF*,*KB*

 

Hope this helps

 

But be wary. this means it may add points that have descriptions that include these letter combos.

[Kapanther]

Sinc is right about getting all your guys to use the same codes.

 

As for having spaces in codes. Well Civil 3d is not affected by it. however your survey equipment your using may have a problem with it. Check with your provider.

[JohnHaberman]

Thanks guys, your input has been a great help. Yes it is a great idea to get my crews all on the same page and use the same codes which is something were are implementing now. However the project I'm working on now is a 3 year old project were all the data has already been collected.

 

Kapanther, I used your suggestion of using the * as a sort of wildcard input when using the "include" option for creating point groups. Then by using the "exclude" option I was able to create the groups I desired. For instance I used *IP for Iron Pipes of different diameters (1/2" IP, 2.5" IP, etc.) and then Excluded the points that came up as "AIRSTRIP".

 

Once again, thanks for you help, it was much appreciated.

 

John

[sinc]

Sinc is right about getting all your guys to use the same codes.

 

As for having spaces in codes. Well Civil 3d is not affected by it. however your survey equipment your using may have a problem with it. Check with your provider.

 

It sounds like some additional clarification is in order...

 

You cannot have spaces in Description Key codes in Civil 3D. You can use spaces in the "Raw Desc Matching" field in Point Groups, but if you intend on using Description Key functionality (which I hope you intend), then you cannot use spaces in your point codes. For Description Key matching, spaces are used to delimit the DescKey from the following parameters.

 

All of this is tied together, so the only sane way to approach this task in Civil 3D is to get your field guys to use codes that do not have spaces in them.

[sinc]

Thanks guys, your input has been a great help. Yes it is a great idea to get my crews all on the same page and use the same codes which is something were are implementing now. However the project I'm working on now is a 3 year old project were all the data has already been collected.

 

You've had field data sitting around for three years, and are just now processing it? Ouch!

 

I'd say just be careful... A lot can change in three years.