Create Cross Section Sheets
GEOPAK V8 2004 Edition provides a completely new method for laying out and plotting the cross section sheets. The traditional input file is no longer supported. The layout process is now totally dialog box driven and is explained below. Once the cross section sheets are laid out, they can be plotted using InterPlot Organizer, also explained later.
FIRST OF ALL YOU MUST HAVE THE FOLLOWING:
- A "source" cross section file containing your existing ground and proposed elements, i.e.. top of pavement, ditch, cut and fill slopes etc...
- A "destination" blank file for creating cross section sheets.
Create a new 2D DGN file (I would suggest renaming this file something like...XS_LAYOUT.dgn) and open the file:
This routine reads your "source" cross section file that contains your cross sections and references them into a "destination" cross section file in individual stacks that fit on 11" x 17" paper in a variety of formats including Portrait and Landscape orientation.
Procedure
Open the "destination" blank cross section file and invoke the Cross Section Sheet Composition tool from the Cross Sections Tool Box as shown below:
The Cross Section Sheet Composition dialog appears as shown below:
Use the pulldowns as shown above and attach the appropriate "Cross Section Sheet Library".
O:\V8i_Resource\X_30\GEOPAK\Bin\Metric
- METRIC_XS_SHEETS.xssl
O:\V8i_Resource\X_30\GEOPAK\Bin\English
- US_CUSTOMARY_XS_SHEETS.xssl
The dialog below depicts the Metric library (METRIC_XS_SHEETS.xssl) attached:
Select the type of sheet to layout from the 6 available sheets styles accessible by using the "down arrow" for Active Cross Section Sheet.
US Customary:
- 20 Scale Portrait
- 20 Scale Landscape
- 20 Scale Landscape (Double Stack)
- 10 Scale Portrait
- 10 Scale Landscape
- 10 Scale Landscape (Double Stack)
Metric:
- 200 Scale Portrait
- 200 Scale Landscape
- 200 Scale Landscape (Double Stack)
- 100 Scale Portrait
- 100 Scale Landscape
- 100 Scale Landscape (Double Stack)
In this example the 200 Scale Portrait sheet will be used.
Click on XS DGN File, as shown below and browse to the the "source" cross section file, (the .dgn file that already contains all of your cross section elements):
It may take a minute or so for this to load so be patient. Once completed, the XS Baseline, Begin Station and End Station fields will be populated by the application reading the source file.
Click on Sheet DGN File, as shown below and browse to the blank "destination" file.
All of the other settings below Sheet DGN File are taken care of and setup for you by the sheet library except for Sheet Labels.
Scroll down to Sheet Labels, as shown below. This area of the application allows each user to create custom headers for each individual project.
The custom header allows for 3 individual lines of text and 1 for the sheet number.
To setup a header line, double click under the Label column where it reads "Header Line 1, 2 or 3". Once the field has been double clicked the field is blank and ready for you to type in your first label. Repeat for the other 2 header lines. Below is an illustration of the first header line filled out. Note... these columns are resizeable by clicking the vertical line separator and sliding sideways.
By default the page numbering starts with "1". This field can be modified also. This would be handy in the case where you may layout 50 sheets in portrait orientation and want to create a second .dgn file in landscape format beginning with sheet 51. Below is an illustration of how that would be done:
You are now ready to layout the sheets. Click on the Layout Sheets button as shown below. This step may also take a few minutes to complete because what's happening is all of the elements that were displayed in view ONE in the "source" cross section file are being referenced in 11" x 17" groups into this file.
An partial example is shown below:
IMPORTANT: Before plotting the sheets see special note below:
NOTE: Bentley has created an optional step that invokes Digital Interplot and creates plot files "on the fly", however it does not work very well with large cross section files. Until this optional method is fixed, it is recommended that you merge these reference files into the "destination" cross section file before attempting to plot with Interplot Organizer. To do this follow these simple steps:
- Invoke the Reference file dialog, File > Reference
- Select all the referenced files
- Select "Merge Into Master" as shown below and data point the view:
To plot the sheets....... see the next set of instructions, Plot Cross Section Sheets.