Once the new database is created, you will be able to edit its properties, as outlined in the upcoming exercise. The Survey Database Settings dialog contains these settings:
- Units
- Most likely, the Units setting is the only one you will ever need to modify in the Survey Database Settings dialog. Pay close attention to the units (Imperial vs. US Foot) if you choose not to select a master coordinate zone. This section is where you set your master coordinate zone for the database.Potentially, your drawing and your incoming survey data may have different coordinate systems. If you insert any information stored in the database into a drawing with a different coordinate zone, the program will automatically translate that data to the drawing coordinate zone (upon initial import only). Your coordinate zone units will lock in the distance units in the Units section. Although usually not necessary, you can also set the angle, direction, temperature, and pressure specific to the survey database here.
- Precision
- This section is where you define and store the precision information of angles, distance, elevation, coordinates, and latitude and longitude specific to the database. Note that this affects display precision for the survey interface and is independent from label precision and drawing precision set in the Drawing Settings dialog.
- Measurement Type Defaults
- This section lets you tell Civil 3D what type of information to expect when importing survey data from a file. The information can be measurement types, such as angle type, distance type, vertical type, and target type.
- Measurement Corrections
- This section is used to define the methods (if any) for correcting measurements. You will probably not need to change anything in this section because most data collectors will have processed this for you.
- Traverse Analysis Defaults
- This section is where you choose what types of traverse analysis you want to perform. You can control the method you want to use and required precision and tolerances for each. There are four types of 2D traverse analysis methods: Compass Rule, Transit Rule, Crandall Rule, and Least Squares Analysis.There are three potential types of 3D traverse analyses: Length Weighted Distribution, Equal Distribution, and Least Squares Vertical. Vertical options for Least Squares will be available only if it is first set as the Horizontal Adjustment Method. Of course, you can always choose None to omit that calculation from the analysis.
- Least Squares Analysis Defaults
- If you are performing a Least Squares analysis, you must specify 2-Dimensional or 3-Dimensional adjustment type. Use 3-Dimensional if you are performing both horizontal and vertical Least Squares adjustment.
- Survey Command Window
- In the rare event that you’ll need it, the Survey Command window is the interface for manual survey tasks and for running survey batch files. This section lets you define the default settings for this window.
- Error Tolerance
- Set tolerances for the survey database in this section. If you perform an observation more than one time and the tolerances established here are not met, an error will appear in the Survey Command window, and you will be asked what action you want to take.
- Extended Properties
- You may work with LandXML files that contain information beyond traditional “P,N,E,Z,D” data. If this is the case, you will want to turn both Extended Properties options to Yes. Create New Definitions Automatically will add extended properties to your survey database and populate the fields from the imported file. Display Warnings For Missing Required Fields will display the Panorama interface if there is missing information in the imported file.
- Change Reporting
- It is a great idea to turn this option to Yes by setting Logging Enabled to Yes. This will create an audit trail of changes to the database that occur after import. The changes to the database are stored in a LOG file (*.log) located in the same directory as your survey database. At any time, you can access the contents of the log by right-clicking the name of the survey database and selecting Display Change Report.
- In the Toolspace ➢ Survey tab, right-click Survey Databases.
- Select Set Working Folder.Civil 3D will create a working folder to contain your survey database. Ideally, this will be stored in a network location for your organization’s projects. For examples in this case, this will be set to your local C drive.
- Verify that the C:\Civil 3D Projects folder is highlighted and click OK.
- In the Toolspace ➢ Survey tab, right-click Survey Databases and choose New Local Survey Database.
- Name the new database Test and click OK to continue.
- Right-click the new Test database and select Edit Survey Database Settings.
- Set your desired defaults for units, precision, and other options, as shown in Figure.
Survey Database Settings dialog. - Click the Export Settings To A File button.
- Save the settings to the folder specified in the Survey User Settings dialog (shown earlier in Setting Up the Databases#Figure 1) as MySettings.sdb_set and then click Save and then OK.
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