Drawing codes can be added to a traverse as Notes or placed in point descriptions.
Putting Drawing Codes in Notes
The preferred way to use drawing codes is to put them in a Note within a traverse. The Note point type is available from the Traverse View. You designate a Note from the Type menu the same way you would designate a side shot or backsight. A Note point does not reference a survey point, it just holds data at that position in the traverse.
The position of a Note in a traverse is important. Generally, a Note refers to the point immediately preceding or following the Note. Drawing codes that begin a process reference the next point. Drawing codes that end a process, reference the preceding point. In this example, TPC draws a line from point 27 to 28 to 29 then ends the line.
Note .BL
27 SS
28 SS
29 SS
Note .EL
To Put a Drawing Code in a Note
•Highlight the traverse point you want to start or end a process (line, figure, rectangle, etc)
•Choose Edit | Insert Drawing Code and select the code from the pop-up menu.
Drawing codes can also be placed in point descriptions. In this example, TPC draws a line from point 27 to 28 to 29 then ends the line.
As a rule, drawing codes should follow any other codes or descriptions for a point. For example, the description “CL .BL” includes the code ‘CL’ and the drawing code ‘.BL’ (Begin Line). The period acts as the delimiter for the drawing code.
27 SS .BL
28 SS
29 SS .EL
Placing codes in point descriptions extends the use of Drawing Codes to data collectors that do not support notes. However, putting drawing codes in point descriptions has the following drawbacks.
•Since the drawing code is part of the description, it gets plotted on the drawing.
•If a point with a drawing code is recalled into another traverse, the drawing code can inadvertently affect that other traverse.
If a drawing code requires additional information, insert it after the Drawing Code, separated from the Drawing Code by a space. For example, ".R2 4.2" is used to include the value 4.2 with the 2-Point Rectangle code.
