Linestring by Station Command

RPS Command Library (Info Only) RPS Data Prep Toolbox
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D_LinestringFromPointsByStation_600ppi   Linestring by Station

Command Licensing and Default Menu Location

  • The Linestring by Station command is part of the RPS Data Prep Toolbox
  • The command is located on the Data Prep macros menu ribbon
  • The command is located in the Create / Edit menu group

Command Description

Creates linestrings from selected points sorted by station in relation to selected reference lines or alignments. Points with matching feature codes or matching Description 1 attributes will be joined into a single or multiple lines. Points are associated with a reference line based on a maximum offset tolerance setting. Lines created can be named and layered using user defined naming styles allowing for rapid reuse from project to project. Command is suited to creating linework from measured points on highways, pipelines, ditches and trenches, beach profile surveys or river section surveys. The resulting linework can be included in corridor models for the automated generation of profile drawings with US or European Style (drop lines and info boxes) formatting.


Command Training Video

The following video shows you how to use the Linestring by Station command.

Original / Unlicensed Command Version Video Demonstration

The following video shows how to utilize the original and unlicensed version of the Linestring by Station command. The original command has a simpler user interface and significantly less functionality compared to the updated command (Sept 2023).



Update Information

September 2023
The command was significantly updated to provide additional capability suited to river and beach profile surveys. The command now allows

  • The measured points to be pulled onto survey lines based on the station and elevations of the points.
  • Line creation based on common description 1 or common feature code attributes of the measured points allowing for e.g., Rock, Sand, Vegetation areas of a profile to be separated for labeling and annotation purposes.
  • The naming and layering of the created lines now use a user defined style that can use any text, the Feature Code, the Description 1, The point layer name, the reference line layer name or the name of the reference line to which the point is associated.
  • Multiple reference line selection and points are associated with a reference line based on a maximum offset tolerance.

Command Interface Description

The Linestring by Station command dialog looks as follows

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Style

You can create a style for the different methods that you wish to use the command. The Style remembers all of the settings so that you can select it and simply select the source data and click Apply.

Click the image button to create a new Style

Click the image button to edit the Style Name

Click the image button to save a Style with it’s current settings

Select a Style and click the image button to delete a Style that is no longer required

Line name

The execution process can generate one or more linestring based on the data that you selected. Yo can define a simple name e.g. EOP for Edge of Pavement if all the points will be joined together in a single line of the same type or you can define a more complex naming methodology.

If you click on the image button - the style editor will open to aid you in the style creation process. You can also just type in the style definition into the data field once you know the codes you have available. The codes are shown in the Command Tips at the base of the command.

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The Label text field shows the current line name template definition.

The Available codes show the codes that you can use to construct the line name template

Select the location in the Label text field at which you want to insert an additional code, select the required code in the list of available codes and click the Insert selected code button to insert the code into the template definition.

Click OK to save the Label Text Template or Cancel to exit the editor and not save the changes made.

Line Naming Example
If you have a set of Beach Profiles to measure, you may have a Beach Profile Survey Line along which the measurements need to be taken each time period. So for a beach called Normandy you may have Beach Profile Survey Lines N1, N2, N3, N4 etc. you can use the code {REFNAME} to use the Reference Line name in the name of the linestring that is being created.

If you have to measure the Beach Profiles each year in April over time you will create survey lines for April 2023, April 2024, April 2025. It is likely that for each year of Survey you will put all of the measured points on a single layer called April 2023 Survey etc. and the lines that they generate may be placed on that same layer or a layer called April 2023 Survey - Rock Lines or April 2023 Survey - Sand Lines or April 2023 Survey - Vegetation Lines or April 2023 Survey - Lines etc. If you have used the layer names as a designator you can use the code {LAYER} to use the point layer name in the line name description. If you collected the data points with a Feature Code or a Description 1 Code you can use code {FC} for the Feature Code and {DESC} for the Description 1 attribute of the points.

Note:
When you import the measured points using the CSV file import function of TBC, you can define data fields for the Feature Code and Description 1 fields as needed to make this processing more automated.

If you want to use the layer name on which the Reference Lines are drawn you can use code {REFLAYER} in the naming of Layers or Linestring Names.

so for a Line Name you may use the following for example
{REFNAME} - {LAYER} - {DESC} - ADJ where ADJ indicates that the line is the adjusted survey line that has the points pulled onto the reference line if you select the “Create points on line” option (see below for details). If in the Description 1 attribute of the points you have recorded the type of point e.g. R = Rock (points on rock surface)
S = Sand (points on sand surface)
V = Vegetation (points where there is vegetation cover (sand dunes etc.)
P = Photo Point (a photo was taken looking down and up the beach as a visual reference)

Then your line naming / line creation would use the “Line Creation” mode - Common Description and the resulting lines would have names like
N1 - April 2023 - R - ADJ for the Rock Line measured on April 2023 for the profile line N1 etc.

If you simply want to create a full beach profile then you would use the “Line Creation” mode All Points and a naming style e.g. {REFNAME} - {LAYER} - ADJ and your resulting line names would be e.g.
N1 - April 2023 - ADJ etc.

You could define two Styles and process the data once to create the Rock, Sand, Vegetation, Photo Point lines on different layers with different names and colors etc. and the process the same data a second time to create the full beach profile (regardless of Sand, Rock, Vegetation, Photo point designations.

Line creation

The process involves selecting reference line(s) or alignment(s) and measured points from which you want to create linestrings. The result will be a line or set of lines based on the options that are selected here. The options are

  • All points - this will join all of the selected points into a single line or into multiple lines if you selected multiple reference lines and defined a maximum offset tolerance (see below).
  • Common description - this will join all of the points with the same Description 1 attribute into a single line or into multiple lines if you selected multiple reference lines and defined a maximum offset tolerance (see below)
  • Common feature code - this will join all of the points with the same Feature Code attribute into a single line or into multiple lines if you selected multiple reference lines and defined a maximum offset tolerance (see below)

Line Layer

The layer name onto which the created linestrings will be placed can be defined using one of the following methods

  • From points - this will place the lines on the same layer as the source points
  • Layer Name - this allows you to define a Layer Name template (see below)
  • Specify - This allows you to create and select a specific layer for the created lines

Layer Name Template

In the same way that you want to name the lines that are created based on a naming convention that utilizes the

  • Name of the Reference Line {REFNAME}
  • Name of the Layer of the Reference Line {REFLAYER}
  • The Point Description 1 {DESC}
  • The Point Feature Code {FC}
  • The Layer Name of the Points {LAYER}

you will also want to place the linestrings that are created on their own layers using the same naming conventions for the Layer Names e.g.

{LAYER} - {DESC} - ADJ would create layer name April 2023 - R - ADJ for the points coded R on the April 2023 layer that have been adjusted onto the reference line.

{LAYER} - ADJ would create layer name April 2023 - ADJ for the full beach profiles that are created between all points that are related to each reference line.

For simpler use cases you can simply select the From points or Specify options to control which layer is used for the created linestrings.

Click the image button to open the Line(s) Layer Name Editor.

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The Label text field shows the current line layer name template definition.

The Available codes show the codes that you can use to construct the line layer name template

Select the location in the Label text field at which you want to insert an additional code, select the required code in the list of available codes and click the Insert selected code button to insert the code into the template definition.

Click OK to save the Lines Layer Name Text Template or Cancel to exit the editor and not save the changes made.

Create points on line checkbox

In some cases you will simply want to create linestrings that join the points using the exact locations of the provided points. In the case of Beach and River profiles, while you intended to walk the exact line of the reference line during the survey, you may have measured off line by varying amounts depending on the terrain and existing ground conditions or whether you were on dry land or in the water while measuring. If you want to pull the measured points onto the reference line, you can elect to do that here by checking the checkbox. Typically we recommend that you leave the measured data alone and create a copy of the measured data that is adjusted on a new layer. In the same way that you can name lines and name the layer on which you place the lines using the template approach, you can use the same template approach here for the adjusted points layer e.g. {LAYER} - ADJ or {LAYER} - {DESC} - ADJ.

Note:
ADJ is just a suggested text string. You can add any characters / text string as a Prefix, Suffix or as text within the defined template as required to get the naming as you need.

Click the image button to open the Points Layer Name Editor.

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The Label text field shows the current points layer name template definition.

The Available codes show the codes that you can use to construct the points layer name template

Select the location in the Label text field at which you want to insert an additional code, select the required code in the list of available codes and click the Insert selected code button to insert the code into the template definition.

Click OK to save the Points Layer Name Text Template or Cancel to exit the editor and not save the changes made.

Maximum segment length

This setting allows you to enter a value that will be used to automatically break the created lines into discrete segments based on the spacing between the points. For example, if you enter 50.00 then if the spacing between two adjacent points (based on stationing) exceeds 50.00 feet there will be a break in the line between those two points i.e. In a Road project you have been given points every 25’ along the alignment starting at Station 0+00.00 and Ending at 450+00.00 however there is a bridge that starts at Station 298+00.00 and ends at Station 301+50.00 No points are provided in the bridge area. in this case the linestrings will start at Station 0+00.00 and end at 298+00.00 and then start again at Station 301+50.00 and end at Station 450+00.00.

Maximum Offset

When you select multiple reference lines or alignments, the processor associates the source points with a specific reference line or alignment based on “proximity”. The proximity is determined from this setting i.e., if you enter a value of 2.00 then all points within 2.00’ left or right of each reference line are selected and used to create the linestrings related to that reference line. Enter a value here that allows you to capture all of the data associated with each reference line but not so large that you create ambiguity as to which line each point belongs to.

If you have points e.g. that follow a design center line, each lane of a highway, the Edge of Pavement and the Shoulder of the road then the lines will likely be separated by >4’ (4’ shoulder) or 12’ (lane widths) etc. so provided your source points are within +/- 2’ of the lines to which they belong they will get mapped correctly. However if you have uncoded points that follow the Edge of Pavement, Curb Flow Line, and Top Back of Curb, these lines may be less than 0.5’ apart so your source points would have to be closer than +/- 0.25’ to be unambiguous for the process to work. If your points have a Code or a Description 1 field you will be using those parameters to join the points into linestrings, however in the absence of codes and where you have design linework available to use as Reference Lines, you can use this method to create the linestrings between the source points.

If you are measuring Beach Profiles or River Sections then it is likely that those are spaced widely so a Maximum Offset Tolerance of 10.0’ or 20.0’ would be acceptable.

Note:

The reference lines can be simple 2 point lines or alignments or they can be curvilinear or multi-segment lines. Remember that if you use multi-segment lines that have angular breaks between the segments that any single point can have more than one station value - the processor uses the nearest point on the reference line to determine the station and the order in which to join the selected points - this may or may not be correct in every scenario.

Points:

Select the points that you wish to connect together with linestrings. The selected points will be sorted first by Reference Line (multiple reference lines), then by Feature Code or Description (Line Creation Mode), and then by Station along the reference line. The points will be joined together with separate linestrings for each Reference Line, each Feature Code or each Description 1, based on their increasing station order.

Reference line(s) or Alignment(s)

You can select Polylines, CAD Lines, Linestrings or Alignments to act as your Reference Line(s). You can choose to select a Single or Multiple Reference Lines depending on the application. For example if you are working on a Road Project you may just select a single road alignment as your reference. If you are doing Beach profiles or River Cross Sections you may select multiple Reference Lines or Alignments.

Single reference line

Select this option if you only have a single reference line. Select the line or alignment that you wish to use for the reference line. The reference line is used to compute the stations and station order of the selected points. Select the line or alignment that you want to use.

Multiple reference lines

Select this option if you have multiple reference lines to compare the points to (Beach Profiles, Rover Profiles etc.). Select the reference lines or alignments that you want to use.

Note:

The reference line(s) can be 2D or 3D however if you intend to build a corridor model for the purposes of generating Beach Profiles or River profiles from the created linestrings, you should set at least a single elevation for your reference line that is somewhere close (below) the lowest elevation that you expect to find in your profile surveys e.g. for a Beach Profile set this value to e.g. -5.0’ and for River Sections you should set the elevation to a value e.g. 5.0’ below the lowest point expected in the river section / profile. This will provide a better solution when you create your profile drawings (long or cross sections). An undefined elevation or 0 elevation will act as 0 elevation in the profiles that you draw (this may be OK for Beach profiles but for river profiles at elevation 600’ will create exceedingly tall profile drawings (0-600’ vertically). If your profiles range in elevation from 598.3 to 612.8’ then set your reference line elevation to e.g. 595’ to create good looking profiles.

Command Tips

The command tips provide you some quick references e.g. the Codes that you can use to define the layer and line naming templates for the command or a reminder that F1 is your shortcut to this Help document.

Header Commands

In the header bar of the command you will find command icons that link you to other commands that you may need access to while using this command. In this command the following commands are linked

  • Help - this document access
  • RPS Settings
  • Create Alignment
  • Create Horizontal Alignment Labels
  • Takeoff Lines
  • Edit Linestring
  • Smart Join
  • Insert Line Segment

Apply
When you tap apply, the linestrings will be created from the points and the command will ready itself for another selection set and repeat process execution. If you do not want to make a second selection and repeat the process tap Close to finish the process.

Close
Closes the command without further execution.

Use Case Videos

The following videos show the use of the Linestring by Station command in a work process context

Feedback and Enhancement Requests

If you would like to provide feedback on the use of the Linestring by Station command or to request enhancements or improvements to the command please click Reply below.

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