Shape In

Vr Mapping

ON-LINE REFERENCE DOCUMENTATION

CARDINAL SYSTEMS, LLC

www.cardinalsystems.net

The Shapefile format is used by ArcView GIS software sold by Esri corporation. At the time of writing, a free Shapefile viewer named ArcExplorer is available for download at the Esri web site.

"A shapefile stores non-topological geometry and attribute information for the spatial features in a data set. The geometry for a feature is stored as a shape comprising a set of vector coordinates. Because shapefiles do not have the processing overhead of a topological data structure, they have advantages over other data sources such as faster drawing speed and edit ability. Shapefiles handle single features that overlap or that are noncontiguous. They also typically require less disk space and are easier to read and write. Shapefiles can support point, line, and area features. Area features are represented as closed loop, double-digitized polygons. Attributes are held in a dBASE® format file. Each attribute record has a one-to-one relationship with the associated shape record."

A shapefile consists of one main file, one index file, and one dBASE table file. All file names adhere to the 8.3 naming convention. The main file, the index file, and the dBASE file have the same prefix. The prefix consists of an alphanumeric character (a–Z, 0–9) followed by up to seven characters (a–Z, 0–9, _, -). The suffix for the main file is .shp. The suffix for the index file is .shx. The suffix for the dBASE table is .dbf.

NOTE: The 8 character limit on filenames has been removed. ShpIn supports the longer filenames.

Main file:	counties.shp
Index file:	counties.shx
dBASE table:	counties.dbf

Shapefiles may only contain one feature per file. Multiple shape files may be translated into a single VrOne file or they may be split out into separate VrOne files. The following shape file types are supported: 2D Polyline, 3D Polyline, 2D Polygon, 3D polygon, 2D Point, and 3D Point.

Fields associated with Shape File entities may be cross-referenced with VrOne entity attributes.

NOTE: Only entities in layers contained in the Layer Cross-Reference table will be considered for translation.

Load Parameters	Record Parameters	Init Parameters
Edit Parameters	Edit Feature Names	Cross-Reference Layers
Cross-Reference Line Fonts	Cross-Reference Symbols	Cross-Reference Symbols
ScanShapeFiles

Initializes translation parameters to default values. NOTE: Current translation parameters will be lost.

Specifies whether to write shape files to separate VrOne files based on the settings in the Filenames cross-reference settings. If off, then all shapefiles will be translated into the currently open VrOne file.

Defines target scale to use when creating the new VrOne file if "Translate to separate VrOne file?" is on and a VrOne file does not exist during translation.

Defines character to use to parse out the base shapefile names from shape file prefixes. This is used when cross-referencing shape files to VrOne files. The output VrOne file names are determined by the base shapefile name. For example, if two shapefiles named job1_pt.shp and job1_ln.shp were added to the input filenames table and the separator character was set to “_”, they would both translated into a VrOne file named job1.vr. Without the separator character specified (or with a different character specified), they would be translated to two separate files: job1_pt.vr and job1_ln.vr.

Lines can be labeled with the value that is defined by the 'Text Label' Attribute Name in the Feature Name Table.

The size of the text labels. The size units are defined in 'Label size units' below.

The units for the size of the text labels defined in 'Label size' above, can be inches, millimeters, or ground units. If the size is defined as inches or millimeters, the size of the text is computed in ground units based on the Vr file Target Scale. The options for this parameter are Inches, Millimeters, or Ground.

Defines the location of the text label in relation to the line. Text labels can be placed in the middle of the line considering multiple vertices or may be placed at the center of the longest line segment. Options include Middle of or Longest Size.

Allows editing feature name fields that correspond to VrOne entity attributes. Layer, Graphic Pointer (Line Font/Symbol Name), Non-Graphic Pointer, Feature Code, Rotation, Pen Number, Radius, and Width attributes may be mapped from feature attributes in the shapefile database. For instance, if there is a shapefile attribute field named Layer that contains layer numbers, it can be cross-referenced with the Layer attribute for each VrOne entity.

Displays the VrOne attributes that can be cross-referenced with shapefile feature fields. Clicking an entry copies the settings to the Shape File Feature fields, where they may be changed. Always press the “Change” button after completing any edits.

Defines the name of the shapefile database field used for the selected VrOne attribute. Any name longer than 10 characters is truncated.

If this is on and the field type is Float, the attribute will be treated as a rotation angle and converted according to the Angle settings below. This allows rotation values stored in the Shapefile to be translated to Vrone rotation angles correctly. You may need to experiment with the angle conversion settings to get the correct settings to match the rotation of symbols in VrOne.

Specifies input units when converting attributes to angles. Options are degrees and radians. Only used if “Use Angle Conversions” is on.

Defines the input angle direction when converting attributes to angles. This can be CW (clockwise) or CCW (counterclockwise). Only used if “Use Angle Conversions” is on.

Specifies the input angle starting direction. This can be North, East, South, or West. Only used if “Use Angle Conversions” is on.

Defines the settings for the cross-referencing of shapefile values to VrOne layer numbers. The attribute field name for Layers is defined in the Edit Feature Names dialog.

The Scan Shape Files button provides an easy way to define this table. This scans the currently selected Shape files and creates a layer cross-reference entry for each layer used.

NOTE: A cross-reference for the VrOne Layer attribute must first be defined in the Vr Feature names cross-reference.

Specifies the shapefile feature. Should be taken from the Layer feature field in the shapefile database.

Defines settings for cross-referencing VrOne line fonts with the line font attribute values in the shapefile database. The attribute field name for Line Fonts (also known as Graphic Pointer) is defined in the Edit Feature Names dialog.

Displays the VrOne line font names for the current VrOne symbol file. Clicking an entry copies the settings to the Shape File Feature fields, where they may be changed.

Defines the value to be placed in the line font graphics pointer attribute field for each occurrence of this line font.

Defines the settings for cross-referencing VrOne symbol fonts with attribute values in the shapefile database. The attribute field name for Symbol Fonts is defined in the Edit Feature Names dialog.

Displays the VrOne line font names for the current VrOne symbol file. Clicking an entry will copy the settings to the Shape File Feature fields where they may be changed.

Defines the value to be placed in the symbol graphics pointer attribute field for each occurrence of this symbol.

Scans all shape files listed in “Define Input Filenames” and copies the layers used to the layer cross-reference table. “Cross-Reference Layers" may be used to cross-reference shapefile attribute values to VrOne layer numbers.