QA Points Command
Command Licensing and Default Menu Location
- The QA Points command is part of the RPS Modeling Toolbox
- The command is located on the Reporting menu ribbon
- The command is located in the QA menu group
Command Description
The QA Points command provides the ability to compare As Built or As Staked points to Design Point locations to automatically produce drawings that show point deviations and point to point distance deviations on orthogonal grid, rotated grid, skewed grid and station / offset grid layouts. The command will also generate on drawing tabulation of results as well as outputs to Printer, PDF and Excel.
Command History
- First version release on Dec 18 2023
Command Interface Description
The QA Points command dialog looks as follows
Design points:
Select the design points for use in the calculations and drawing generation.
We recommend the use of Selection Sets to define groups of points for easy selection. You can define a selection set from the properties pane of selected point objects or through use of the Selection Explorer pane.
For advanced selection methods (Advanced select, Select by Layer, Select by Elevation Range etc.) use the Options button associated with the Design Points section of the dialog.
As built points:
Select the as built or as staked points for use in the calculations and drawing generation.
We recommend the use of Selection Sets to define groups of points for easy selection. You can define a selection set from the properties pane of selected point objects or through use of the Selection Explorer pane.
For advanced selection methods (Advanced select, Select by Layer, Select by Elevation Range etc.) use the Options button associated with the Design Points section of the dialog.
Notes:
The analysis matches As built points to design points using a proximity search tolerance that is defined in the Style (see below). If e.g. the tolerance is set to 1’, provided each As built point is within 1’ of it’s Design point they will be treated as a matched pair. The tolerance defined needs to ensure that there is no ambiguity in point matching, i.e. if your design points are 5’ apart, then you cannot have a tolerance of >2.49’ because then points could be mismatched. Use a tolerance that is loose enough to match all point pairs accurately, but tight enough to avoid introducing ambiguity into the point matching.
If there is a Design Point but no As built Point at a location, the point errors and all mid point errors connected to that design point will not be reported.
If there is an As built Point and no Design Point at a location, the As built point will be ignored.
If more than one As built point is found within the search area, each as built point will generate its own set of point delta errors and mid point errors. Note that the drawing elements will overlap and you will need to clean those up manually if this situation arises.
Unmatched design points will be listed at the top of the results pane after processing has been completed - each point listed is a hyperlink to that point in the model, click the point in the results table to center the graphics on the point for review as needed.
Style:
The computations, drawing production, tabulation and exports of results for the command are controlled by Styles that are created using the RPS Settings command - QA Point Settings. Select the style that you would like to use for thee process.
The style defines the following types of information
- The type of grid for the calculations i.e. Orthogonal, Rotated Orthogonal, Skewed, Alignment Based
- Units for the text elements (Decimal Feet, Architectural Feet, Decimal Meters etc.)
- Text styles for the text elements
- Text content i.e. Prefix and suffix notations plus data content items for the point deviations and point to point distance checks
- Layers for the drawing and table elements
- The Block to use for the Point Deviation directions e.g. an Arrow
You can access the RPS Settings command icon from the Header Bar of the QA Points command or from the Tool Shed menu. To read the RPS Settings for the QA Points command - Click Here
Note:
The style defines the type of grid to which the style will be applied. Each grid type will generate additional settings here depending on the style selected.
Grid
This is an orthogonal grid where the X and Y axes are aligned W-E and S-N in the plan view. This Grid style does not require any additional settings.
Rotated Grid
This is an orthogonal grid where the X and Y axes are rotated in the plan view by a defined rotation angle. The grid axes are at 90 degrees to each other. This Grid style requires you to define the X-Axis direction e.g. 60 degrees.
Skewed Grid
This is a non orthogonal grid where the X and Y axes are not at 90 degrees to each other, the Y axis is at an angle of something other than 90 degrees to the X Axis. This Grid style requires you to define the X-Axis direction and Y-Axis direction. Note the skew grid can be both rotated and skewed.
Alignment Grid
This is an alignment based grid where the X-Axs is defined by a line or alignment and the Y-Axis is defined perpendicular to the alignment. This grid style requires you to define the Line or Alignment to use for the grid definition.
Change plot scale:
The text that is created for the drawing elements and drawing tables is drawn based on the text style definition for the text. If the Text Style definition is in Sheet Units, then the size of the text is determined using the value from the Text Style e.g. 0.08 multiplied by the drawing scale e.g. 1" = 50’ i.e. text height will ne 50*0.08 = 4.0’. If the Text Height is too large, you can either change the text height in the Text Style Manager e.g. change it to 0.04, or you can change the Plot Scale to e.g. 1" = 20’ etc.
To change the plot scale, click the Change plot scale button and enter a new value in the dialog that is displayed and press OK to complete the change.
Apply:
Press the Apply button to carry out the as built / as staked analysis and create the initial drawing elements. The drawing elements will typically include:
- Arrows at each point indicating the error vectors along the axes of the grid.
- Error values or Correction values for each as built point that was selected.
- Point to point distance labels showing design, actual and delta errors
Print report:
Once the initial computations and drawing have been created, the results of the computations are displayed in the results section of the dialog for review. To generate a Printout or a PDF output of the report click the Print report button. To generate the PDF report, select a Print to PDF driver rather than a printer driver at the print dialog that is presented.
Excel:
Once the initial computations and drawing have been created, the results of the computations are displayed in the results section of the dialog for review. To generate an Excel output of the report click the Excel button.
Draw table:
Once the initial computations and drawing have been created, the results of the computations are displayed in the results section of the dialog for review. The data in the results area can be selected and copied to the windows clipboard using CTRL C and then pasted into a document or spreadsheet etc. as needed. You can also use this report data to generate Tables on your drawing in the TBC Plan View - see below for details.
Points table:
To generate a tabular report in the drawing for the point deviations, click the Points table radio button and then select the insertion point for the table on the drawing in the plan view window.
The content of the Points table is defined using RPS Settings - QA Points Settings.
For more details, Click Here
The text styles used in the Points Table are defined using RPS Settings - Table Settings.
For more details, Click Here
Mid points table:
To generate a tabular report in the drawing for the mid point deviations, click the MidPoints table radio button and then select the insertion point for the table on the drawing in the plan view window.
The content of the Mid Points table is defined using RPS Settings - QA Points Settings.
For more details, Click Here
The text styles used in the Mid Points Table are defined using RPS Settings - Table Settings.
For more details, Click Here
Command Tips:
The command tips area provides you with useful tips for command execution as well as access to the help documentation and training video (this document).
Header Bar Commands:
In the header bar pf the command, you will find icons that access other TBC / RPS commands that we believe may be required while running this command. The header bar contains quick access to the following commands
- Help
- RPS Settings
- Takeoff Lines
- Create Point
- Station Offset Points
- Create Alignment
- Create Alignment Labels
- Text Style Manager
- Leader Lines
Help:
You can access the help documentation for any RPS command by clicking the ? icon in the header bar, by pressing the F1 key on your keyboard or by clicking the Help link in the Command Tips area of the dialog.
Close:
Closes the command without further execution.
Video Demonstration
The following video shows how to utilize the QA Points command
Use Case Videos
The following videos show the use of the QA Points command in a work process context
Feedback and Enhancement Requests
If you would like to provide feedback on the use of the QA Points command or to request enhancements or improvements to the command please click Reply below.