Land Surveyor
Guys,I am using Trimble Access to collect field data and per the client's instructions we are using feature codes with attributes. Right now I am exporting to a csv then opening the csv in Excel, then organizing the attributes, and finally importing them into AutoCAD Civil3d. Is anyone out there using Feature codes with attribute data for field collection and Civil 3d for processing? If you are how do I get rid of the excel step?

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  • Land Surveyor
    Adrian, I appreciate the help. It sounds like we have it about as efficient as we are going to have it.
  • Land Surveyor
    Radoslaw, we don't have TGO we have TBC and when I export to dxf or dwg the attributes don't appear in the drawing files. This was something I never thought of so it was worth a try.

    Adrian, we take the Access job file and open it in TBC to check the data and then export it to a csv. We have the custom export setup POINTID,NORTHING,EASTING,ELEVATION,FEATURE CODE,ATTRIBUTES.
    This gets my data out and then I can import into a survey database, with a custom import POINT NUMBER,NORTHING,EASTING,ELEVATION,RAW DESC,ATT1,...,ATT10. My problem is that every point does not have the same attributes, sometimes ATT3 is a comment and sometimes ATT10 is the comment. Is there a way to always have comment ATT10?
    • Land Surveyor

      James,

      That is a function of two different things, I think.  One is the way that the attributes are set up.  The other is the way that your custom import into C3D is set up.  We had a very similar issue when we started using attributes.  My work-around was pretty simple and probably not the best solution, but it works for us.  Basically we use the stock import in C3D of P,N,E,Z,D.  In TBC, the custom export that I created has the following format:

      POINT NUMBER,NORTHING,EASTING,ELEVATION,ATTRIBUTES

      the trick is that in the ATTRIBUTES field in the format editor (TBC), all of the options are checked (Feature Code, Attribute Name and Include Blank Attribute Values).  The reason is that we have some codes that do not have attributes, and if you leave the last one unchecked, you will not get any information in that field if you don't have the blank attributes checked.  The other thing is that I have made all of the delimiters spaces.  this allows me to import the files straight to C3D survey database without having to edit the attributes.

      Of course, there are drawbacks to this work-around.  All of the data in the attributes are in the Raw Description field which makes the description pretty long for some points.  I have tried to figure out the formatting in C3D to add the attributes in a Point Style with a custom import as you stated above and have not had any luck.

      All that being said, to answer your question about always having the comment at ATT10, one way to do that is to update the attribute itself (in Feature Definition Manager) and add blank attributes to all that don't have 10.  Another option is to edit all of the attributes so that the comment is always #1, or #3, etc. for each of the attributes.

      I'm not sure that any of this will help you. Feel free to contact me directly at 480-892-3313 and maybe we can figure something out.

      thanks.

      Adrian

  • Land Surveyor

    James,

    Are you transferring the data directly from the collector, or are you using TBC to export the points (I believe that Access is the field software)?  There are a couple of different ways that we use...I have created a custom export in TBC to export the data and it does not require you to use Excel to manipulate it. 

    You can also download "ASCII File Generator" from the Trimble downloads site and use it on the .job file.  There is an output format that is Comma delimited with attributes.  It puts a ":" between the attributes and creates a file like is attached.

    I have also attached the .xsl (stylesheet) that I edited from the stock that removes all the extra commas.  Let me know if you have any questions...

    Adrian Burcham, RLS

    • Land Surveyor

      Attached is the install for ASCII File Generator, since it is pretty hard to find online anymore...We also use this software to prepare electronic cut sheets...

      Adrian

  • If you would use TGO then it is easy to export all attributes to dxf, so you would avoid excel step. 

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