Creating Tables - Points and Stations

The Table options allow you to create tables of information extracted from points and stations as well as keys for DTM shading, DTM groups and features.  Each is generated as an unreferenced symbol in n4ce and when exported to an AutoCAD DXF file, the symbol is exported as an anonymous block.  It is possible using the CAD tools to save the symbol into the current project library so that it can be used elsewhere in the project or saved for use in other projects.

Tables of Points

The Table Points option allows you to create a table containing information extracted from a selection of model points.  The points that you wish to use should be added to the Select List of points.  If there are no points on the Select List, nothing will happen when this option is selected.  When you select this option, a dialog allowing you to define the format of the table and the data that you wish to include will be displayed.

The main components in the dialog box are the two lists of items.  The available items that can be plotted in the table are shown in the list to the left and those that are currently selected are shown in the list to the right.  You can change the selection of items by highlighting one or more items in each group and the arrow buttons to add to or remove from the list of selected items.  You can also change the order of the selected items by highlighting a single item and then using the Up or Down button to change its position.

There are seven items that are available for plotting in a table.   These are the Code, Number, Easting, Northing, Height and Remark assigned to a point together with any dimension that the point has been given.  Apart from dimensions, each available item can only be used once.

To change how each item is displayed, double-click on the item in the selected list.  n4ce will then display a dialog box allowing you to change some of the display parameters.  The example shown below is that for the code of a point. 

The Title field allows you to change the name that will appear in the column header in the table.  You can enter any appropriate text string here.  The Prefix and Suffix fields allows you to specify leading and trailing items that will be added to the table value.  An example here would be if you wished to add units to a column of data.  The Justification field allows you to specify where the text appears in the column of data.  Normally, text strings will be left justified and numeric values will be right justified.  The Decimals field becomes active if the value to be displayed is numeric, such as one of the co-ordinates.

When displaying dimensions, the Dimension field will be enabled.  This can be used in several ways and need not actually contain a dimension.  In its simplest form, the name of the dimension that is to be displayed in the table should be entered in this field with the name of the dimension in capital letters.  However, some text macros are allowed and this must take the form of a simple mathematical expression such as A+B, A-B, A*B or A/B.  In these expressions, A and B can be either the name of a dimension in capitals, a numeric value or one of three lower case strings px, py or pz which represent the easting, northing or height of the point being used.

An example where one of these expressions could be used is for manhole surveys where you have surveyed the level of the manhole cover and used a tape to measure its depth to invert.  To display the invert level in the table, you would use the expression pz-DI, where DI is the measured dimension.  A further example is where you can generate a cant and gauge report by projecting one rail string onto a second.  The dimensions SDST and CANT can be added but are always in metres.  In the example below, the expression CANT/1000 has been used to display the cant column in millimetres.

Tables of Stations

The Table Stations option allows you to create a table of survey stations.  Only those stations that are not hidden will be used in the table.  When selected, a dialog like the one for points will be displayed.  Since stations do not have dimensions and numbers, these options will not be on the available list.

Table Formatting

Whilst the options already discussed allow you to define the text content of the tables, the formatting of the text, in terms of colours and styles, has yet to be described.

The Frame button allows you to define the overall presentation of the table not including the columns of data.   When selected, the dialog box below will be displayed. 

The Title field shows the title that will be used at the top of the table.  The Box Height field is the height in millimetres for the banner at the top of the table which contains the title.  The Line Pen field shows the colour for the outside border of the table and the line underlining the title.  These lines will always be solid lines.  The Layer field specifies the layer on which the table will be plotted.  If the field displays “<Current>” the table will be plotted on whichever is the current layer.  The Text Pen and Text Style fields in the Text group specify the pen and text style used for table title.

The Columns button allows you to define the presentation of the columns within the table.

The Line Pen field allows you to change the pen used for the vertical lines separating the columns of data and the horizontal line separating the column headers from the column data.  These lines will always be solid.  The Width field defines the default width of the table columns in millimetres.  Note that all table columns will have the same width.  The Height field allows you to change the height of the header rectangle for the columns.  Again, this value should be in millimetres.  The Spacing field shows the vertical spacing that you wish to have between the items in the columns.  This value will be used together with the height of the text to define the actual text spacing.  The Pen and Style fields in the Text group specify the pen and text style to be used for the column titles and the text strings in each column.

Rather than have a standard width for all the columns, you can specify different widths for each.  The Widths group allows you to do this.  If the Variable Widths check button is not ticked, all columns will use the default width.  If the check button is ticked, you can specify a width for each column.  Note that when this button is first ticked, all the columns will be assigned the default width.  To change a width, double-click the left mouse button over the name of the column that you wish to change and enter the value in the dialog box that is displayed.

Loading and Saving Tables

It will often happen that you wish to remember the formatting of a table for future use.  This will normally be the case where you wish to present tree data, with columns showing tree type and size, or manhole data with cover and invert levels.  It may also be the case that some customers require tabular data to be presented in different ways.

The Save button allows you to save the formatting for the current table for future use.  You will be asked to enter a file name.  It will be given a .TAB extension and stored in the Templates area of the n4ce set up.  The Load button allows you to load a previously saved table to use on the current data.  A dialog showing the available .TAB files in the Templates will be displayed and you are asked to choose the required one.