Traverse Settings

Each traverse keeps track of its own Control Point, Side Shot, Lot Label and Profile settings. When you include a traverse in a drawing (by tagging it), TPC draws the traverse using the sequence of points in the traverse and its Traverse Settings. The traverse just 'appears' in the drawing complete with drawing objects for all its lines, points and labels. Now you can modify the Traverse Settings or individual objects as needed to complete the drawing. See Traverse vs Object Settings

When you create traverses with Point Codes, TPC uses the Traverse Settings stored with each code to draw the traverses it creates.

Traverse Settings vs CAD>

Using Traverse Settings is a fast, flexible and fun way to create your drawings, but it isn't at all like CAD. If you are already familiar or accustomed to CAD, you will need to 'take your CAD hat off' so to speak. If you don't, you won't be successfull with TPC and Traverse Settings- it's that simple. See mores ways TPC differs from CAD.

This help topic will help you 'put on your TPC hat' by explaining how to use Traverse Settings. Of course, you can still snap lines to point, create offset, draw and hatch polylines like you would in CAD, but the real question is, "Why would you?" This is your opportunity to get away from all the work of CAD and let TPC do the work for you.

The Advantage of Traverse Settings

The advantage you get from using Traverse Settings is simple - they affect all the points in the traverse. So by making one change of color, point symbol, line type, etc. you affect every object drawn by that traverse. And as you work with your survey data, the Traverse Settings re-create the drawing based on the new survey data - automatically.

It doesn't take long to figure out that this is a VERY fast and VERY flexible way to draw your surveys.

Using Traverse Settings

The trick to using Travesre Settings is to let TPC do as much of the drawing as possible. If you find yourself drawing line and typing text in a TPC drawing, you're 'missing the boat', so to speak. Here is how Traverse Settings work.

Create new traverses with the Traverse Settings you want via the New Traverse dialog or Point Codes.
Change the Traverse Settings as needed, letting TPC do as much of the drawing as possible.
Change individual objects like lines, point symbols and text as needed to finish the drawing.

These three steps will maximize your drawing efficiency and fun with TPC. You will want to experiment with the Traverse Settings to see what they do and how the look in a drawing. There are lots of settings to choose from, so have fun.

Step 1: Creating New Traverses with Traverse Settings

Most of the commands that create a new traverse in TPC allow you to select the Traverse Settings for the new traverse when it is created. Of course, you can change them anytime, but starting with the Traverse Settings you want is just a matter of working more efficiently.

Let's look at two ways to create traverses with Traverse Settings.

When you add a traverse to the Traverses Manager, TPC displays the New Traverse dialog. Pull down the Settings list and select the stored Traverse Settings you want. You can also click the [...] button in that dialog and change the Traverse Settings to whatever you want. Variations of the New Traverse dialog are used throughout TPC and all have the Settings list.
If you create traverses from Point Codes, right click any code in the Point Codes Manager and choose Modify Code | Traverse Settings... Any traverses created for this code will get these Traverse Settings to start with.

Step 2: Changing Traverse Settings

To use Traverse Settings efficiently, you need to change them. That's how you get what you want in the drawing without drawing it manually.

Right click any object in the drawing that is part of a traverse and choose Traverse Settings.
Select the Control, Side Shot and Lot Label settings you want and choose OK. Drawing View will redraw the survey using those settings.

Reepeat these steps until the traverse looks the way you want it. If you plan to use mixed point symbols in a traverse, set the symbol in the Traverse Settings to the one that is used for more points in the traverse. Later, you can change the symbols that are different.

Step 3: Changing Object Settings

Once you have the traverses drawing most of the drawing, you can change individual objects as needed to finish your drawing. /span>

Right click any object and choose Properties. Edit the settings in the dialog (lines, symbols, labels) and choose OK.

See and some of the objects drawn by that traverse change while others do not, you may need to reset the individual Object Settings. Remember, Object Settings take precedence over Traverse Settings. If you change the color of a side shot line and then change the side shot color in the Traverse Settings, TPC will draw the line using its own color, not the side shot color of the Traverse Settings because the Object Settings for the line take precedence over the Traverse Settings.

To reset the Object Settings, right click the object and choose Reset Modified Attributes. You may also need to Regen the drawing to update the object.

Unique Traverse Settings

Unique Traverse Settings provide even greater flexibility when a survey has multiple drawings. A drawing can store unique settings for any traverse. So you can make a traverse look one way in one drawing and look another way in another drawing.

Saving Traverse Settings

Traverse Settings can be saved and re-used as needed. If you typically draw your lot labels a certain size wth a certain font, save those settings and re-use them for any new traverses you create. You can always modify the Traverse Settings as needed, so saving and recalling Traverse Settings just gives you a place to start. See Drawing View Settings dialog.

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Traverse Settings