Common operations

Usage of Workspace

The top line of the Workspace header displays the project name. Immediately after that, the project's coordinates branch appears. Under this branch, lists of coordinates used in this project will appear.

By default, two lists will appear in each project, for Topography - coordinates of the existing ground, and - Design for planned ground points and additional elements.

Right-clicking on the Coordinates branch will display several options to choose from:

Update - Clicking this button will scan all the coordinate lists in the project and display the points on the drawing.

New list - Clicking this button will create a new list within the Coordinates branch.

New folder - Clicking this button will create a folder under the Coordinates branch to which lists can be assigned and cataloged as desired.

Right-clicking on any particular coordinate list will display the following options:

Update points on drawing - Clicking this button will scan the coordinate list and display the points on the drawing. Similarly, whenever a change is made to the list (adding/changing a line or point, etc.) and you want to see the change on the drawing, click this button, and the drawing will be updated accordingly.

Open - Clicking this button will open the control and operation window for the list at the bottom of the screen. For operating this window, see the following page.

Load from file - Allows loading a points file into the list.

Properties - Clicking this button will open a window of options and settings for the coordinate list.

Delete - This button allows deleting the list.

Rename - This button allows renaming the list.

For the Topography list only, the option Codes will also appear - Clicking this button will open on the right side of the screen the control window for the set of codes relevant to the project. For a guide on using codes, click here.

How to load points?

Manual entry

Click on the text editing line with the mouse, you will see a cursor in the form of a caret inside the line. Type the first point in the sequence, where you should type one or more spaces between each parameter - first type the name of the point (bm300), space, x (200), space, y (100.32), space, and height (75.67). After typing the point, press Enter.

You will see that the point has been added to the list of points, and the point editing line has moved to a new line. Continue typing the rest of the points.

Loading from a file

Click this button to load a coordinate file.

For more details, see the Commands Toolbar page.

Filtering from an existing DWG file

See the Filtering page for details.

How to add/delete/move/locate points?

Adding a coordinate in the drafting area - Pick

To activate, click on the word "Pick" within the list so that it is highlighted in blue. In the command line of ACAD/ZWCAD, the text will appear: "Pick point <XXX>/(Esc)nd:". The number in parentheses is the number assigned to the selected point. To change this number, type the desired number and then press Enter. With the mouse pointer over the drafting area, stand on the point you want to add and click the mouse button - you will notice that the point has been added to the coordinate list. Another click on the mouse will create another point, and so on. To end the operation, press Esc.

Point Heights: As mentioned, each click will add a point to the list. In projects where height lines are considered (by the Topography → Contours action), the software will interpolate the height of the new point and automatically add this height.

We can see that the added point received a name/number automatically. There is control over the names of the points added (in addition to the option to manually change a point name after it has been added) as follows:

1. On the main menu bar (the command line at the top of the drafting area), activate: Configuration File.

2. The main settings window will open, select the Coordinates format tab. Under this title, there are two options:

3. 1. Automatic name numbering - to activate, mark V next to the "Auto names" label. This option instructs the computer to automatically assign a name that does not appear in the list. These names will be opened with the letter T for topography points and with the letter D for planned points.

   2. Incremental numbering - we can instruct the computer to number the added points incrementally starting from a specific number. A text line appears to the right of the "Start counting from" label. Type the number from which counting will start in this text line. You will notice that marking next to "Auto names" disappears. From this point on, each new point added will be numbered in ascending order from the number you entered. However, the software *will not prevent duplicates in point names.

   Note: When working with ACAD/ZWCAD, this action is similar to entering a point number directly in the ACAD/ZWCAD command line.

4. After selecting the desired option, click OK.

   Note: There is no prevention from giving the same name to two different points. In such a case, both points will be displayed in their correct position on the drawing, and you can even calculate height lines using them. Problems arising from duplicate names will occur only when these points are included in a planned area, in discontinuous lines, axes, etc. In such cases, avoid using identical names for points.

Locating points appearing in the drawing within the list - Locate

To activate, click on the word "Locate" within the list of actions. In the ACAD/ZWCAD command line, the text will appear: PolygonIn/PolygonOut/<Single>/(Esc)nd:

1. (Esc)nd - Pressing Esc will end the operation

2. Single - Default - locating a single point

   In ACAD, Object Snap to Point will be activated automatically. If you select a specific point, it will be identified below in the list and highlighted in blue.

3. PolygonIn - Locating points within a closed shape. Pressing I and Enter will activate this command.

   Draw a polygon around the desired points, and to close it, press C and Enter. All points within the polygon will be identified and highlighted in blue.

4. PolygonOut - Locating points outside a closed shape.

Pressing O and Enter will activate this command. Draw a polygon around the desired shape and press C to finish. All points outside the polygon will be identified and highlighted in blue.

Freezing a point/points in the list from the drawing - Freeze

A frozen point will appear on the screen, but its height will not affect the drawing of height lines.

To activate, click on the word Freeze within the list of actions.

In the ACAD command line, the text will appear: PolygonIn/PolygonOut/<Single>/(Esc)nd:

1. (Esc)nd - Pressing Esc will end the operation

2. Single - Default - freezing a single point

   In ACAD - Object Snap to Point will be activated automatically. If you select a specific point, it will be identified below in the list and frozen. After freezing all the desired points, click on the button for the freezing to be reflected on the screen.

3. PolygonIn - Freezing points within a closed shape. Pressing I and Enter will activate this command.

   Draw a polygon around the desired points and to close it, press C and Enter. All points within the polygon will be identified and frozen. Click on the Refresh button for the freezing to be reflected on the screen.

4. PolygonOut - Freezing points outside a closed shape. Pressing O and Enter will activate this command.

   Draw a polygon around the desired shape and press C to finish. All points outside the polygon will be identified and frozen. Click on the Refresh button for the freezing to be reflected on the screen.

Deleting a point/points from the list using the drawing - Erase

To activate, click on the word Erase within the list of actions - (see Freeze), except that here the same actions will delete points.

One of the useful uses that can be done using the Erase action is to reduce the project area to a defined area or delete coordinates that are beyond our project. For example: Let's say we have a new project, into which we import a coordinate file of measurement, and in this file, there are also measurement stations and coordinates of the orientation points of the stations. In many cases, such points are far from the measurement area, so after importing the file and refreshing it ( ), we will get a concentrated area of points (the project area) and a small number of remote points that are not needed. We can use the Erase PolygonOut or Erase PolygonIn option (depending on the work configuration) to delete the points that are far from our project area. After deletion, click on the button to refresh the drawing.

Moving a point/points in the list - Move

A common mistake is to think that moving a point in ACAD (a regular Move command) will change the coordinates of that point in the bottom list. However, you can use the Move option described here to physically move a point on the screen, and simultaneously change its coordinates in the list.

To activate, click on the word Move within the list of actions. In the ACAD command line, the text will appear: PolygonIn/PolygonOut/<Single>/(Esc)nd:

1. (Esc)nd - Pressing Esc will end the operation

2. Single - Default - moving a single point

   In ACAD, Object Snap to Point will be activated automatically. After selecting the desired point, you will be asked to mark the first location that will be the reference point for the move, and from here, the second location to which the move will be made, then press Enter. The coordinates of the selected point will change according to its new location and according to the marking with a yellow cross. After moving all the desired points, click the Refresh button to refresh the drawing.

3. PolygonIn - Moving a group of points within a closed shape. Pressing I and Enter will activate this command.

   Draw a polygon around the desired points, and to close it, press C and Enter. All points within the polygon will be moved. Follow the prompts in the ACAD command line. After moving all the desired points, click the Refresh button to refresh the drawing.

4. PolygonOut - Moving a group of points outside a closed shape. Pressing O and Enter will activate this command.

   Draw a polygon around the desired shape and press C to finish. All points outside the polygon will be moved. Follow the prompts in the ACAD command line. After moving all the desired points, click the Refresh button to refresh the drawing.

In conclusion, to work with the points, we have defined 5 actions: Pick, Locate, Freeze, Erase, and Move. All actions except Pick require clicking the Refresh button to refresh the drawing and reflect the changes on the screen.