• A .TIN file.

• A .DGN file containing your "pattern lines" (explained later)

Metric_2D.dgn (metric 2D file)

English_2D.dgn (english 2D file)

The working units for the metric file should be set to 1,000 and 1.

The working units for the english file should be set to 10 and 100.

• A horizontal alignment stored in COGO. You'll need to know the name of the stored chain.
• A .DGN file to create your "existing ground cross sections" (explained later)

• Metric_XS.DGN (Metric XS file)
• English_XS.DGN (English XS file)

The working units for the english file should be set to 10 and 10,000.

Open the .DGN file that you set up for creating "pattern lines."   You should reference your .DGN file that contains your chain to this file just to be able to see what's going on.   Execute the MicroStation command, FIT REF.   Your chain (from the reference file) should now be in full view.   Now...

APPLICATIONS > GEOPAK ROAD > CROSS SECTIONS > DRAW PATTERNS BY STATION RANGE

This brings up the "Draw pattern lines" dialog box.   This application will simply draw normal MicroStation line elements perpendicular to your chain at user specified increments, station ranges, and widths and at user specified color, level, weight and style.   After filling in all fields in the dialog box...press APPLY.   You should now have a multitude of lines perpendicular to your referenced chain.   Later, we will use these lines to generate existing ground cross sections from the "TIN" file.

NOW...

APPLICATIONS > GEOPAK ROAD > CROSS SECTIONS > DRAW CROSS SECTIONS FROM SURFACES

...or use the "Tools" icon (shown below):

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The "Draw Cross Sections" dialog is composed of 3 pulldowns and 2 tabs.

THE PULLDOWNS:

The "File" pulldown (Actually taken from the "on-line" help):



The File options are utilized to "remember" more dialog settings than the dialog resource file.
The default extension is .xsd.
The workflow is the following:

Open the Draw Cross Sections dialog.  The dialog box is populated with the contents of the resource file.

Next,

Set settings for CHAIN 1 and draw XS
Set settings for CHAIN 2 and draw XS
Save all the settings by selecting the  File > Save command.
Close MicroStation.

In a subsequent session, open the Draw Cross Sections dialog for the same project.  The dialog box is automatically populated with the contents of the resource file.

Next, load the settings by selecting the File > Load command.  When switching from one chain to the another, all settings of the previous session are maintained.

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The "Edit" pulldown (Actually taken from the "on-line" help):

The Edit options are toggled off / on by each selection of the option.   Only one option may be active at any given time, therefore, if an option is selected, the previous active option is de-activated.

 The six options are detailed below:

Cut Rows

Cuts a row from the list box into the buffer.  Note that unless the line is pasted back into the list box, the information is deleted from the list box and no longer displayed.

Copy Rows

Copies a row from the list box into the buffer.  This can be utilized if several rows have similar information.  Rather than manually entering every line into the list box, a line can be copied, pasted, then modified.

Paste Rows

Pastes a row from the buffer into the list box for subsequent editing.

Save Dialog Settings

Selecting this option stores the current dialog settings to the resource file.

Restore Saved Settings

Selecting this option populates the dialog with settings from the previous session via the resource file.  Note if the resource file has been deleted, the settings cannot be restored.

Clear Surface List

Selecting this option removes all rows from within the list box.

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The "Update Options" pulldown (Actually taken from the "on-line" help):

The options are toggled off / on by each selection of the option.
The check to the left of the option indicates the option is active.

Only one option may be active at any given time, therefore, if an option is selected, the previous active option is de-activated.

The four options are detailed below.

Delete Existing Elements and Redraw

When this option is activated, any existing ground lines previously drawn with this tool are deleted and new ground lines are drawn.

Delete Non-modified Elements and Redraw

When this option is activated, any Non-modified existing ground lines previously drawn with this tool are deleted and new ground lines are drawn.  Any existing ground line ELEMENTS that were modified will be left untouched.  In other words, when the new ground cross sections are drawn... the modified elements will still be there.

Draw on Top of Existing

When this option is activated, any previously drawn ground lines are ignored and a new set is drawn, resulting in two sets of ground lines.

Query

When activated, the user is prompted each time the Draw button is pressed.

The user must select one of the three options and press the Apply button to commence processing.  Pressing the Cancel button closes the dialog with no subsequent processing.

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THE TABS:

The "XS Cells" Tab:



The XS Cells Tab means what it says... this is where you tell Geopak where to find the information to create the cross section cells and how they are to be laid out.

The dialog is broken into 3 parts:

• Pattern
• Scale
• Spacing

Pattern:

There are 3 ways in which to determine where (and how frequent) the cross sections are to be drawn.
 
• By Station:

This method consists of key in fields (station ranges) and no graphical representation.  This method is somewhat limited.
 
• By DGN File, (My Recommended Method):

This method utilizes graphical representation and draws one cross section for each line or line string of the specified parameters.

Toggle on the desired element parameter, (ie. Level, Weight...)  the press the Select button.  The Mask dialog is displayed, wherein the desired parameter settings may be identified.  You may select as few or as many parameters to identify the desired pattern lines or line strings.  You may also simply type in the element parameters, separating the values with commas or to combine a range... use a dash).

To utilize the Match tool, toggle on the desired element parameters.  Open the file that contains your pattern lines and identify a pattern element,  by pressing the Match button and then the element(s).  GEOPAK determines the element symbology and sets the active parameters.

The Reset button clears all Mask dialogs, so a new match procedure may commence.

Pressing the Display button displays all existing  elements of the current parameters.
 

• In Existing Only:

No user input is required, as this option draws ground lines only for cross section cells that exist in the cross section file.  No other pattern requirements are needed.

Scale:

It is possible to draw the ground cross sections at an exaggerated scale, similar to how we draw profiles.  The standard practice at Western Federal Lands is to set the scale to 10 and 10.

Spacing:

The user now not only has control over the vertical and horizontal spacing of the ground cross sections, but also the number of cross sections per column.  I would advise that the Horizontal and Vertical spacing always be kept at 1000 and 500 (as shown) because of how the cross section sheet "layout" procedure is handled (11 x 17 sheets).

The number of XS by column is up to you.

The "Surfaces" Tab:



The Surfaces Tab may sound a bit confusing at first, but the reason this is referred to as "Surfaces" is because now not only can the user create ground cross sections from a TIN file (which is a "surface"), but also from a Geopak SITE model or object, (which are also "surfaces").
 

NOTE:   If a Geopak Site project is not open, the only option available is to extract from a TIN file.
The dialog is broken into 2 parts, with the 2nd part, (Details) containing 3 parts, (as shown below):
• The "Collection" window
• Details
• Display Settings
• Filter Tolerances
• Text Settings

The "Collection" window:

As with all of these typical "collection" windows.... this is where the user can easily see what parameters have been added/modified/removed for processing.  Once the "Details" have been completed, the user clicks on one of the 3 icons to the right of the window for the parameters to be "collected".

Multiple surfaces from a variety of sources can now be drawn in a single processing.

The 3 "collection" icons are represented as follows:
 

  


• To "Add" a surface, simply complete the "Details" portion of the dialog and click on Add Surface.
• To "Modify" surface settings, complete the "Details" portion of the dialog, highlight the surface already collected and click on Modify Surface Settings.
• To "Remove" a surface, simply highlight a collected surface and click on Remove Surface.

Details:

In the "Details" portion of the dialog, the user may browse to the location of the TIN file via the "Browse Tin File" icon, or simply type in the name.

Two methods are now available for extracting the ground cross sections.  Triangles (typical method always available with Geopak 2000 and earlier versions) and Break Lines.  Break Lines are new for 2001.  This method is very similar to the "Intersect" method for extracting existing ground profiles.

If a TIN File is utilized, triangles are utilized to draw the cross sections.

If a Site component is utilized, the user may select break lines.
 

Given the intersection between a pattern line and a triangle side;  if the entire side of the triangle simply begins at one break line and continues to straight to another break line... then the intersection of that triangle side and the pattern line will be ignored in the creation of the ground cross section.
 

The ground cross section elements can be drawn as Lines or Line Strings, depending on which option is selected.

To create different element symbology in Void areas, click in the Void "check box" and double click on the element (as shown below).  The Void Plot Parameters specify the element symbology of the existing ground lines being generated which are located within a void in the model.
 


Display Settings:

The Display settings (symbology for the ground cross sections) can be set 2 ways:
• By Level Symbology
• By Feature


By Level Symbology, (current method used in WFLHD):
Select this option by setting the Display Settings option to "By Level Symbology".  Next simply double click on the element (as shown below).  Adjust the settings in the "Geopak Set Feature" dialog, click on OK and select one of the 3 "collection" icons at the far right of the Collection window, explained earlier.
 


By Feature:
Select this option by setting the Display Settings option to "By Feature".  Next simply double click on the element (as shown below).   Click on the "Browse Feature" icon and the D&C Manager is invoked.  If an item has been setup, it can be selected and the symbology of the ground cross sections will be set accordingly.
 


Filter Tolerances:

The recommended Filter Tolerances (for both English and Metric) in WFLHD are 0.10 and 0.03 (as shown below):
 


Text Settings:

When the Elevation box is checked, the elevation of existing ground at the intersection of the pattern line and chain can be drawn on each ground line.  To adjust the text parameters, double click on the displayed text (as shown below) and adjust the parameters within the Geopak Set Feature dialog.
 

A handy tool to review the cross sections when they're finished is the CROSS SECTION NAVIGATOR.   To access this:

APPLICATIONS > GEOPAK ROAD > CROSS SECTIONS > NAVIGATOR

... or use the Tools icon shown below:

With this tool you can step through, section by section or simply select the section (from a pick list) that you want to review and you will see it immediately.   For more information on this tool see "Pavement Definitions, Cross Sections & Earthwork", Part II, Chapter 8 in the Geopak 2001 Manuals.

For my condensed explanation... see "The Cross Section Navigator"

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