FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements
MicroSurvey Software Inc.
March 13, 2012
© 2012 MicroSurvey Software Inc. Page 2 of 38
FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements
Introduction We have made the focus of these staking improvements centered
around utilizing the staking list. Users typically get paid based on
how many points they stakeout in a day, so we have kept that in the
front of our minds while designing these improvements to our
staking routines.
New Workflow The intended workflow will be for the customer to import an ASCII
file of points into a new project in FieldGenius. This file will
automatically be added to the staking list because the survey role of
To Stake Out was selected during import. The user will then work
from the staking list. When the Use Staking List check box is
enabled, the staking module will no longer look in the points
database for any points to stake out, but will only look in the staking
list. The nearest point will always be presented as the next point to
stakeout.
When a point has been staked out and it’s survey role has changed,
the point on the Map View will change appearance (look greyed out
with an inverted triangle). Users will easily see what has been laid
out and what remains.
We have added the ability for the user to disable the dialogs between
the staking out a point and having the next point presented to stake
out, thus speeding the time between laying out points.
This guide This guide will walk you through the new work flow and highlight
changes and improvements to FieldGenius. To best demonstrate
this we will start a project from scratch, import an ASCII file of 13
points, and stakeout some of these points. We will see the new
nearest point functionality in action.
I used the desktop version of FieldGenius to demonstrate our
improvements.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Provided file I have included a ASCII file of 13 points to stakeout. The file is
called Job1.csv. You are welcome to use this file as you work
through this guide.
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
ASCII Import We will launch FieldGenius and create a new project. We will then
import an ASCII file of points into FieldGenius. We will import the
file called Job1.csv.
Step Action Display
1
From Project Manager dialog:
Tap on the New Project button.
This takes us to the Create New Project
screen.
2
In the Create New Project screen:
Enter a name for the project in
the Enter project name field.
In this example we will call it
Job1.
Press the OK button when
finished.
This takes us to the Job Review dialog.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
3
In the Job Review dialog:
Here you have an opportunity to select
an Automap Template file or change the
Raw Data file. We will leave these as
the defaults.
Tap on the Continue button.
This takes us to the Unit Settings dialog.
4
In the Unit Settings dialog:
These are the default units for
FieldGenius.
Tap on the OK button unless
you have a need to change these
values.
This takes us to the FieldGenius
Assistant screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
5
In the FieldGenius Assistant screen:
In this example we will be stating
coordinates that are scaled to the ground
and therefore a coordinate system is not
required.
Tap on the No button.
This takes us to the Instrument Selection
screen.
6
In the Instrument Selection screen:
In this screen we can select or create
instrument profiles. In this example we
will use the Total Station Demo profile.
Select the Total Station Demo
instrument profile.
Tap on the Connect button.
This takes us to another FieldGenius
Assistant screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
7
In the FieldGenius Assistant screen:
We are prompted if we would like to
create a new point to use as a set up
point. Since we will be importing an
ASCII file, we won’t create a point here.
Tap on the No Button
This takes us to the Map View screen.
8
In the Map View screen:
Since we want to import an ASCII file
of points, we will navigate to the ASCII
import dialog.
Tap on the Main Menu button.
This takes us to the Main menu.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
9
In the Main menu:
Tap on the Import/Export
button.
This takes us to the Import/Export
screen.
10
In the Import/Export screen:
Tap on the ASCII Coordinate
File Import button.
This takes us to the Import Coordinate
File screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
11
In the Import Coordinate File dialog:
Press the Browse for File…
button to navigate to the file you
wish to import.
Note: I have already browsed for the
file to import and that is displayed in the
File Name field.
Select the field delimiter of your
ASCII file in the Field
Delimiter field. In this example
the delimiter is a comma.
Select the file format of your
ASCII file. Consult FieldGenius
help or the manual for an
explanation of the file formats.
In this example we will be using
the Standard format.
Select To Stake Out as the
survey role in the Assigned Role
field.
Decide whether you want to
write an SP (Store Point) record
to Raw file. In this example we
will write to the Raw file.
This step continues on the following
page.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
11
This step continues from the previous
page:
Why do I want to write an SP record to
the raw file?
There are times when you may want to
reprocess your survey data but using an
altered control coordinate. You can not
unless they were written to the raw file
so it is not a bad rule of thumb to do.
Leave the Overwrite Existing
Coordinates field unchecked as
we are using a new job with no
points in it.
Press the Import button.
This takes us to a report screen
explaining how many points were
imported.
12
In the report dialog:
We see that 13 points were imported.
Tap on the OK button.
This returns us to the Main menu.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Remember Up to now we have connected to the total station demo profile and we
have imported an ASCII file of points to use to setup on and practice
staking out.
We will now setup our total station on point number 9, backsight a
north direction, and stake out a few points.
Step Action Display
13
In the Main menu:
Tap on the Map View button.
This takes us to the Map View screen.
14
In the Map View screen:
We see the 13 points we just imported.
Let’s setup our total station on point 9
and backsight a north direction.
Tap on the Select Mode button.
This takes us to the Select Measure
Mode screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
15
In the Select Measure Mode screen:
Tap on the Occupy Point
button.
This takes us to the Orientation Setup
screen.
16
In the Orientation Setup screen:
We see the blue text Dbl Click in the
Occupy Point field. This indicates that
more information is available if we
double-tap on this field. So let’s do it.
Double tap on the Occupy Point
field.
This step continues on the following
page.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
16
This step continues from the previous
page:
After double-tapping on the Occupy
Point field we see a new drop-down
menu with different means of selecting
an occupy point.
Key Pad Entry: If you know the point
number of the point you wish to set up
on then select this and then key in the
point number.
Point Select – Map: Select this to
choose your set up point by tapping on it
using the Map View.
Point Select – List: Select this if you
want to pick your point from the list of
points in the points database.
Point Select – New: Use this if you
want to manually enter a new point and
its coordinates.
In this example we will select Point
Select – Map to select point number 9
to set up on.
Tap on Point Select – Map.
This takes us to the Select Point screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
17
In the Select Point screen:
I have already tapped on point number 9
and we see it has been selected because
of the orange dot on point 9 and in the
Point ID field we see a 9.
Tap on your occupy point.
Press the Select button.
This returns us to the Orientation Setup
screen.
18
In the Orientation Setup screen:
Enter an instrument height in the
Instrument Height field. In this
example we will leave it at 0.0.
Select what you wish to
backsight in the Backsight
section. In this example we will
backsight a direction of north.
Enter a backsight direction in the
Backsight Direction field.
In this example we will skip using a
target height.
Tap on the OK button.
This returns us to the Map View.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
19
In the Map View:
We see an instrument setup icon and
orientation at point number 9. We now
need to complete our setup by taking a
backsight observation. Since we are
only back sighting north, we don’t need
to make a distance measurement so we
will tell FieldGenius that we don’t wish
to measure a distance.
Tap on the Measurement Mode
button.
This takes you to the Backsight Measure
Mode screen.
20
In the Backsight Measure Mode screen:
Since we are back sighting a north
direction, we don’t need to measure a
backsight distance.
Tap on the Angle Only button.
This returns us to the Map View screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
21
In the Map View:
We now see that the Measurement
Mode button now displays BS (Angle).
Tap on the Measure button.
This takes you to the Manual
Observation Input screen.
22
In the Manual Observation Input screen:
Since we are back sighting a north
direction, we will use the values
displayed in the image to the right.
Enter 0°00'00" in the
Horizontal Angle field.
Enter 90°00'00" in the Vertical
Angle field.
Tap on the OK button
This takes us to the Orientation Results
screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
23
In the Orientation Results screen:
We see our orientation results.
Tap on the Accept button.
This returns us to the Map View.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
So what have
we done? To recap, we have created a new project, selected the Total Station
Demo instrument profile, imported an ASCII file of points, set up our
instrument on one of the points in this file, and back sighted north.
We are now ready to stake out. There are different ways to access
staking but we will do it straight from the Map View screen.
Step Action Display
24
Continuing in the Map View:
Let’s start the staking process.
Tap on a point in the Map. In
this example, let’s tap on point 8
(in the lower-left corner of the
map).
Notice the display changes and we now
see the Point Toolbar at the bottom of
the map. Also, point 8 has an orange
dot indicating it is selected.
Tap on the Stake icon.
This takes us to the Point Staking
screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Point Staking
Dialog Although this screen looks very similar to FieldGenius 2011, we have
added a lot more intelligence to it. The first new item in this dialog
that you have not seen before is the Do not show this screen again
check box. You can turn the display of this screen off so you won’t see
it again. We did this to quicken the staking process. There is also a
setting to turn this on or off in the Settings\Options\Staking section.
Questions: What happens if I enter an offset in the Design Point
Offset fields, and then turn off this display? I know I will mistakenly
stakeout a point in the wrong place because I only wanted to offset one
point, and I will forget to clear the offset fields for my next point. Will
I be staking these points in the wrong place?
Answer: Not if we can help it. If there is anything other than a zero in
these fields, we will always display this dialog even if you have it
turned off, and we did this for exactly the reason you mention.
Step Action Display
25
In the Point Staking screen:
Let’s stake out point 8. We see point 8
is in the Point ID field.
We want to use the staking list so
Ensure there is a check mark in
the Use List check box.
We also see the coordinates for point 8
displayed in this dialog.
Tap on the Stake Point button.
This takes us to the Staking Point 8
screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
26
In the Staking Point 8 screen:
Remember: If we were using a robotic
total station or GPS, we would not see
this screen and these values would be
automatically displayed on the Map
View screen.
Make note of these values.
Tap on the Continue button.
This returns us to the Map View.
27
In the Map View:
We see a Waiting For Measurement
text displayed. Notice that all of the
points are “greyed out” and the only two
displayed are our set up point (9) and
the point to be staked (8). Also the
Measurement Mode button informs us
that we are staking with the text Stk
Shot.
Press the Measure button.
This returns you to the Manual
Observation Input screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
28
In the Manual Observation Input screen:
Enter the value in the
Horizontal Angle field that we
saw in Step 26.
Enter the value in the Vertical
Angle field that we saw in Step
25.
Enter the value in the Slope
Distance field that we saw in
Step 25.
Tap on the OK button
This returns us to the Map View.
How do I enter
the degrees
and minutes
symbols?
FieldGenius will automatically add them for you. In the above
Horizontal Angle field example, type this sequence of keys:
63 space 31 space 55 tab
(or 63.3155 tab)
And you will see 63°31'55" displayed in the Horizontal Angle field.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
29
In the Map View:
We see our In and Right directions are
almost zero and since they are within
our staking tolerance, they are coloured
green.
Tap on the Store Point button.
This takes us to the Point Staking
Results dialog.
30
In the Point Staking Results dialog:
What’s new with this dialog?
We added a Do not show this screen
again check box. You can also turn this
on/off in the Settings\Options\Staking
menu. Let’s place a check mark in this
box and see what happens.
Tap on the Do not show this
screen again check box to place
a check mark in it.
Tap on the Save Raw Data
button.
This returns us to the Point Staking
dialog.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
31
In the Point Staking dialog (as we saw
in Step 26):
Question: Why is point 11 displayed in
the Point ID field?
Answer: It is the next nearest point to
point 8.
Just for fun, let’s place a check mark in
the Do not show this screen again
check box.
Tap on the Do not show this
screen again check box.
Press the Stake Point button.
This takes you to the Manual
Observation Input screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
32
In the Staking Point 11 screen:
Remember: If we were using a robotic
total station or GPS, we would not see
this screen and these values would be
displayed on the Map View screen.
Make note of these values (as we
did in Step 26).
Tap on the Continue button.
This returns us to the Map View.
33
In the Map View:
Press the Measure button.
This returns you to the Manual
Observation Input screen
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
34
In the Manual Observation Input screen:
Let’s make a bad measurement. Maybe
we are on the wrong point? Enter the
incorrect values displayed on the image
on the right.
Enter the value in the
Horizontal Angle field
displayed on the right
(63°00'00")
Enter the value in the Vertical
Angle field displayed on the
right (90°00'00")
Enter the value in the Slope
Distance field displayed on the
right (31.000m)
Tap on the OK button
This returns us to the Map View.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
35
In the Map View:
Now we see that there is red text
indicating we are outside our staking
tolerance. But we didn’t see this and we
pressed the Store Point button anyway.
Tap on the Store Point button.
This takes us to the Point Staking
Results screen.
36
In the Point Staking Results screen:
Hey! Wait a minute. We turned this
dialog off in Step 30! What’s going on?
You are correct, we did stop this dialog
from being displayed, but FieldGenius
will always ignore that command when
you have exceeded your staking
tolerance. We don’t want you ever
staking out and storing a bad
measurement.
We will cancel this measurement and do
it properly.
Tap on the Cancel button.
This returns us to the Map View screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
37
In the Map View screen:
Press the Measure button.
This takes us to the Manual Observation
Input screen.
38
In the Manual Observation Input screen:
Go back to Step 32 for the correct values
to enter.
Enter the value in the
Horizontal Angle field
displayed on the right
(37°52'06").
Enter the value in the Vertical
Angle field displayed on the
right (87°51'45").
Enter the value in the Slope
Distance field displayed on the
right (33.944m).
Tap on the OK button
This returns us to the Map View.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
39
In the Map View screen:
We now see the In/Out Left/Right
fields are coloured in green so this
means we are within our staking
tolerance (in fact they are all zero) so
let’s store this point.
Press the Store Point button.
This stores the point and opens the Point
Staking screen displaying the next
nearest point to stake out.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
So what has
changed? We added toggles to allow the enabling/disabling of 3 dialogs (Stake
Results, Point Staking, and Store Stake Point – see image below and
on next page) that existed before. We were told that few people read
or use these dialogs so we now permit the user to disable them thus
decreasing the amount of button pushes between points and reducing
the time to stake the next point.
Each one of these dialogs can either be turned On/Off from within
the Settings/Options/Staking section or from the dialog itself. We
have added intelligence in the Point Staking dialog so that if any
character other than a null value or zero are in the Offset fields, the
dialog will be displayed no matter what is selected in the on/off
toggle.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
So what has
changed?
continued
We added a Show Staked-Stored Points check box to allow the
user to view points on the map that have already been staked out.
We now allow the user to decide if they want their staked out points
to appear differently to points that have not been staked out yet with
the Fade Staked-Out Points check box.
If you want to store the newly staked out point along with its staking
deltas, place a check mark in the Store Stake Point check box.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Step Action Display
40
Map View Changes.
Take a look closer at the lower-left hand
corner of the map
I have provided a zoomed in view below
the main image.
Remember the first point we staked out
was point 8. Where is it?
It is now the “greyed out” triangle
beneath point 7.
This new display can be turned on or off
in the Settings menu (see the previous
section called “So what has changed?”
You should see a field called Fade
Staked-Out Points).
We wanted to make it very easy for the
user to see what has been staked and
what remains.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Review of
Dialog
Changes
Let’s go through some the dialogs that have been changed.
Description Dialog
Point Staking Results Dialog
1. We added a Do not show this
screen again check box. This check
box is over-ridden when the staking
tolerance has been exceeded.
Point Staking Dialog
1. We added a Do not show this
screen again check box.
2. This Do not show this screen again
check box is over-ridden when
either of the Design Point Offset
fields have anything other than a
zero value in them.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Description Dialog
Staking List Dialog
1. All points imported with the survey
role of To Be Staked get
automatically added to the Staking
List.
2. We changed the icon of the To Be
Staked points to a green check
mark. The previous red x we found
a little confusing.
3. The Stake icon appears for points
that have not been staked yet.
4. No other functionality has changed.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Description Dialog
Project/Settings/Options/Staking Dialog
We added:
1. the Fade Staked-Out Points check
box. When unchecked, Staked Out
points are displayed the same as To
Be Staked points.
2. the Display Point Staking Screen
check box. When unchecked the
Point Staking dialog is not
displayed between the staking and
storing of a point.
3. the Display Stake Results Screen
check box. When unchecked the
Point Stake Results screen will not
be displayed unless the staked point
exceeds the staking tolerances.
This continues on the following page.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Description Dialog
Continuing in the
Project/Settings/Options/Staking Dialog
We added:
4. the Store Stake Point check box.
Placing a check mark in this box
will store the point information
along with the raw data.
5. the Show Staked-Stored Points
check box. A new Survey Role has
been created called Staked and
Stored. We created this to allow
users to filter out points that they
have already staked out.
6. the Use Staking List check box.
When this is unchecked then points
in the Points Database are also
presented as points to be staked. We
recommended that this box always
has a check mark in it.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Description Dialog
New Instrument Profile Dialog.
We added this new dialog so that a user
will have a Cancel button when they
mistakenly press the Add button in the
Instrument Selection screen. Previously
if the user mistakenly pressed the Add
button, there was only one active button
and that was Save.
What happens if you mistakenly select
a point that has already been staked out?
We added the Stake Point Warning
screen.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Description Dialog
Previously in the Instrument Selection
dialog, no Instrument Type was selected
i.e. there was no radio button in any of
the choices.
We made this page always have an
active instrument selected to connect to.
What happens when the user stakes all
of their points?
They receive this updated warning
message.
We added the staking list text to provide
additional help to the user.
Continued on the following page
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FieldGenius 2012 Staking Improvements, continued
Description Dialog
In this display we see a Waiting for
Measurement… text AND the Store
Point button is greyed out.
In the past, the Store Point button was
active despite that there is nothing to
store. As you can see, this bug is fixed.
Alpha Characters
We added more functionality to this
dialog. In the past you just received the
warning message. We added the check
box at the bottom of the dialog so you
can now turn alpha characters on
directly from the warning message.