Εισαγωγή αρχείων LandXML σε Leica RoadRunner και Trimble Access. Προβλήματα γλώσσας.

Εξάγω τα Civil 3D corridors σε LandXML και Trimble RXL μέσω δικού μου προγράμματος.

Οι Ελληνικοί χαρακτήρες δεν αναπαράγονται σωστά από την Trimble αν δεν χρησιμοποιήσω Code Page 1253, είτε ως LandXML είτε ως RXL.

Αν όμως χρησιμοποιήσω το ίδιο Code Page για τα Leica τότε το Import Alignment Data μου βγάζει μήνυμα ότι είτε το αρχείο είναι κενό είτε το περιεχόμενό του είναι ακατάλληλο!

Οπότε με τα Leica τα export πρέπει να μην είναι σε Code Page 1253 όπως θα πρέπει να είναι για τα Trimble. Με την default επιλογή του UTF-8 το ίδιο αρχείο διαβάζεται μιά χαρά από τα Leica.

Και φυσικά για τα Leica δεν πρέπει το αρχείο να είναι μορφής Design Cross Section Surface (DCSS) αλλά απλό CSS. Και δυστυχώς αυτό αφορά και τα νεότερα, τα Captivate.

Civil 3D corridor baseline based on Feature Line export to sensor

Trimble Link is capable of no question exporting these kind of baselines !
Leica Infrastructure Link displays an error message and no export takes place.
Leica X-Change is discontinued. Last version was for Civil 3D 2016. This feature is available from v2017.

Leica Infrastructure Link multiple baseline corridor export

In case a Corridor consists of more than one Baselines based on different Alignments then all Feature Lines checked in whatever Baseline are exported but only the first Baseline Alignment is exported ! All other are ignored ! Finally only one Layer is created for the entire Corridor.
So it is not possible to set the appropriate Centerline when in RoadRunner.

X-Change was capable of producing multiple Layers.

So it is crucial to work only with X-Change and up to Civil 3D 2016
or
create mutiple Corridors, one for each Baseline
or
do multiple HeXML exports having checked only one Baseline per session but it does not work
follow this link https://infrastructuresurveyor.blogspot.gr/2017/06/i-had-corridor-with-multiple-baselines.html

Leica Infrastructure Link - Civil 3D corridor export : failure - Autocad JIT error message "Enumeration has either not started or has already finished"

Searching for a workaround for the previous post i tried exporting the corridor with all baselines checked.
And i got the following message.

More serious bug reports to come...

Leica Infrastructure Link - Civil 3D corridor export : bug - Layer centerline set to wrong baseline alignment

I had a corridor with multiple baselines attached to multiple alignments.
I unchecked all of them except one of them which it was the only one i wanted to export.
I used Leica Infrastructure Link to export it.
Finally i used the MS XML editor to view the exported HeXML file.

The alignment of the checked baseline was not exported.
Instead of it, the alignment of the first (and unchecked) baseline was exported !
The correct feature lines were exported.
Finally the wrong exported alignment was attached to the layer as a centerline.

 

Leica Infrastructure Link - Civil 3D export corridor : failure - Autocad JIT error message "This operation on featureline-based baseline is invalid"

One of the top rated in the wish list about Civil 3D was the option to create a corridor using feature line baseline type. Civil 3D 2017 was the first version to support it.

Leica X-Change no longer exists since this C3D version.

Its successor Leica Infrastructure Link freeware must be used instead.

Running this addon pressing the "Read Civil Objects" button user sees the following message.

The program stucks at this point.

OR

After reading civil objects when trying to save "Export HeXML" user sees the following message

Well at least it is multithreaded. So in either cases user can press Continue and then the OK button and end this addon. But no export takes place.

Same thing happens even if baselines feature line based are unchecked when rebuilding the corridor.

Only solution is to revert to the previous baseline type method of alignment/profile.



Well. It is obvious that Leica developers did not examine the changes between v2016 and v2107.
In v2017 baselines types can differ. Developer should examine if it is "IsFeaturelineBased" or else the above exception is thrown. At least there should exist a user notification.

Leica developers should have seen this link
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad-civil-3d/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2017/ENU/Civil3D-DevGuide/files/GUID-6D41D043-4958-40B7-9C7E-45A6D780955B-htm.html

Leica vs Trimble software support

Trimble has published its Civil 3D 2017 export/import set of applications since the first days autodesk announced it.
September ends and Leica has not published its X-Change sets of applications although there are already Infrastructure and Building Links for 2017 editions months ago.

Trimble Link Civil 3D road export critical points of interest.

A Civil 3D road can be exported to RXL only if a Corridor surface has been created.
But Trimble Link does not in fact export triangles !
In fact it uses this surface for two purposes.
First is to get the feature lines and or links that compose the surface.
Second is to get the area that the surface is limited.


The second purpose is critical for two reasons.
1. User may have not created a boundary. So useless surface triangles might exist. This is not a problem since exporting does not use any triangle at all.
2. User may have created a boundary that does not cover the whole of the expected corridor surface area but a part of it !!! So Trimble Link reports a text message to indicate those areas by station values. And finally those areas are omitted !!!


There are some very serious limitations about Trimble Link and they occur because of the logic Trimble Access or Survey Controller works.


There is always at least one side. Left or Right. It is not possible to have a road that it is not connected to axis. Axis can not be far away out of the road !!! Links always start from the axis !!!


It is not possible to have a continuous lane that crosses an axis !!! If a lane includes an axis then Trimble Road Link cuts the lane in two pieces. One for the left side and ne for the right one.
Also if lane does not pass through axis at profile elevation then for both sides a code named "Constant" vertical element is created from axis profile elevation to intersecting lane position.


Another serious limitation has to do with slopes. User is forced to select whether to consider last element for left and or right side as a slope. This is completely idiotic. There are cases that some cross sections do have slopes and some others do not. There should be an option to select codes by Link and or Feature Lines to consider them as slopes.
Most worse if a side has only one element then this is considered to be a slope one so user has no idea where this element ends !!! Totally crap logic !!!
Another one serious limitation has to do also with slopes. Say a cross section has a design catch daylight cut for 1:3. If side slope is checked for this side then cut slope is set to 1:3 but also fill slope is set to the same slope no questions !!! So if on site the real case is a daylight fill and a 2:3 is the desired slope then user must be carefull so that he manually change the slope.
There should be an option for the user to select to have a "Do not assign non existing slope" or "Default fill/cut slope to use if not existing in Civil 3D".
In case there are not a lot of cross sections i use MS XML editor to manually alter the Slope elements of the exported RXL file. If only i knew that new Trimble GPS does not support Carlson SurvCE...




Leica RoadRunner is not limited to anyone of those above. It can also accept points that create a closed shape !!!


Leica RoadRunner uses only one way to export corridors. Feature lines. In latest version (Civil 3D 2016) it is possible for the user to select which (available-meaning checked in corridor parameters) of them to export. But it is not possible to export parts of cross sections using boundaries.


My choice...Leica RoadRunner. Not the best. Not even close. But compared to Trimble Link then...no second thoughts.


Soon to enter some images to graphically represent the above.

Leica X-Change and Civil 3D 2014 : Offset subassemblies not exported

Well, i created a corridor with some offset assemblies.
When exporting corridor to a Leica Road Job using Toolbox->Export to job->Corridor only main assembly codes were exported.
Damn. At least before going on site i used the simulator and found this disadvantage.

Leica TPS1200 RoadRunner : Bridge cross sections

I stakeout all bridges, underpasses, overpasses, gutters, ditches etc the way the pictures below show.

This is possible following the below steps...

1. creating corridors using Civil 3D

2. using custom Microsoft VisualBasic.NET 2013 DLL program running from within Civil 3D (using NETload command) to export Corridor Sections (no need for sample lines) as proper LandXML cross sections

3. using custom Microsoft VisualBasic.NET 2013 EXE program to load Civil 3D LandXML exported alignment and profile, clean it from superelevations and cross sections that might have been exported also with it and finally attach the above exported LandXML sections to a compact LandXML file

4. using Leica LandXML converter from LandXML to RoadRunner job.

 

All overpasses, underpasses, bridges, boxes, walls i staked out, for the past three years, were made this way.

 

If anyone wants to try the above methods just leave a comment and i will create a new post with links for the mentioned programs and instructions.

Leica RoadRunner-LandXML import

I do heavy use of autodesk Civil 3D and Leica RoadRunner 5.0 for roads, bridges, underpasses, overpasses etc.

At present time i prefer to use my programs to do the exporting from Civil 3D to LandXML.
I use the Civil 3D LandXML export only for the alignment and profiles.
Then with a program i developed i export CrossSections consisting of the points i choose in the order i set.
Finally i use another program of my own with which i join alignment and cross sections on the fly (although i can do this by hand-using a simple text editor to edit do the proper LandXML file joining)

This is just an online guide to remind me problems and tricks for future use.

1. DesignCrossSectionSurf are ignored. Only CrossSectSurf are loaded.

2. Multiple axies can exist in a single LandXML file but...
    2a. only one axis with cross sections can be loaded or else an error is reported and importing stops . Unfortunately even though a success message is displayed when importing multiple axies with only one of them containing cross sections in fact not a single cross section is loaded. Layers do exist. One for each alignment. But each layer is an empty of cross sections alignment.
    2b. user cannot select which axis to load. All of them are loaded. Each axis is set on a seperate layer mention this having in mind Carlson SurvCE way of improting LandXML.

3. Each CrossSect can have multiple CrossSectSurf . They will be represented as layers with their correspondent names. But the points will not be named with the codes mentioned in Civil 3D since CrossSectSurf format does not keep point codes. The names used are of type for example L1:3. L if left side, 1 for the first point in sequense,3 the ascending number for the layer when imported (it was loaded as the third one).

In case someone wants to preserve the point naming, since DesignCrossSectSurf are ignored, has to use Autodesk Civil 3D->Toolbox->Leica Geosystems->X-change->Export data to job.

But ALL points for each feature line checked when building corridor will be assigned. No layering takes place inside a baseline. Layering takes place only if multiple corridor and/or baselines exist.

For example if a corridor has three baselines but only the two of them were checked when building the corridor then the RoadRunner job will include those two base lines as layers with all of their points that belong to checked feature lines.
This means that point joining to lines for X-Slope will be sequential using the axis criteria. So if those lines are not the desired then the user has to go back and edit road job using the include/exclude key and store it.

Finally using Leica X-change for autodesk Civil 3D user can have multiple corridors with multiple baselines all in one job. Layering takes place at baseline level.

4. While in RoadRunner staking or checking then only points in selected layer appear. Again i mention this having in mind Carlson SurvCE in which all layers are visible but only the current is selectable.
A good practice is to include a layer with all points in it just for checking that no mistaken assignment took place when building LandXML CrossSectSurfs (layers).

Addition 2015-03-16

LandXML supports multiple gaps in CrossSectSurf . Multiple PntList2D are meant to be gaps.
But Leica RoadRunner importer does ignore them. No gaps. All points are joined sequentially.

But it is possible to enter points in what ever order. Points are joined the way they are ordered in PntList2D. That is perfect compared to Trimble's logic (Trimble Link-exporting road as surface). This way it is possible to enter points with same horizontal offset the way user wants to or even draw correctly closed shapes !

Addition 2015-03-17

If CrossSects->CrossSectSurf->PntList2D starts from right to left (descending order by offset) then ALL points are named as right even if there are points with negative offset.

Also if points start with negative offset but they are not ordered by ascending offset, just after the first positive offset, then all points even if negative they are named as right.

So for the points to get correctly named by RoadRunner LandXML importer, a good practice is to be ordered in PntList2D from left to right. But even if not correctly named this leads to no mistakes while staking or checking.