Automating Field-to-Finish

The term field-to-finish refers to the process of transforming raw survey field data into a finished drawing. Before computers, the point data collected in the field was plotted on paper by hand, and draftspeople skillfully connected the dots and employed other methods to create the desired topographic map. The process was manual in the truest sense of the word. Next came the first CAD programs, in which points could be plotted on a computer screen and the dots connected using primitive entities such as lines, arcs, polylines, and blocks. This is what many would now refer to as a “manual” process.

Tips :A topographic map can be thought of as a 3D map: the 2D outlines of surface features combined with contour lines representing the third dimension.

As you might guess, the process of making a drawing out of point data is quite tedious and presents an opportunity for automation. Imagine using the result from the steps in the previous section (see Figure on Importing Survey Data) to create a map of the land. With no information accompanying the points, it would be nearly impossible. In the following sections, you’ll see how to use several Civil 3D features to automate this process, resulting in a drawing that is 80 to 90 percent complete immediately after you import the raw field data. However, as is usually the case, the more automation you want, the more setup you are required to perform. Automation is another way of saying that you’re going to make a bunch of decisions ahead of time and ask the computer to carry out those decisions when needed.

The following Civil 3D features enable you to convert raw field data into drawing information.

Automating Field-to-Finish

• Linework Code Set
• Point Styles
• Point Label Styles
• Description Keys
• Figure Prefix Database
• Point Groups