Besides CavePlot's standard binary data format, CavePlot can also Load (import) and Save (export) ASCII TEXT files. To load a TEXT file as survey data, and have it load properly, the text must be in a specified format. There are a numerous possible ways to store survey data as a text file. The format I have chosen, and named "CavePlot-Text" is given in the following “Rules”:
General Rules for CavePlot-Text
-Any line starting with Equals (=) is a command
-Any line starting with an Apostrophe (‘) is ignored
-Any line starting with alpha-numeric is a station name
-Any line starting with whitespace contains survey data
-Whitespace is one or more character with ASCII < 33
-Names and data are both separated by white space
-Any line starting with an asterisk (*) is a survey break
-A station name always follows (next line) a survey break
-LRCF data, if any, follows the station name
-Command lines (for now) occupy only a single line each
-Data is ordered: Dist Azim Incl (unless changed with =O=)
-LRCF data is ordered: L R C F (unless changed with =O=)
=SS= Specifies Color and Status for Sections (obsolete)
=O= Precedes Data Order for the following survey
=D= Precedes the Magnetic Declination Value
=P= Precedes a Pattern% (SICN) for following stations
=A= Precedes a Station's Attribute$
=A$= Precedes an Attribute Char$, Flag$, Name$
=F= Signals the end of the survey data
Sample CavePlot-Text Listing
The following is a sample CavePlot-TEXT listing of the sample survey “Made Up Cave”. This smaple listing shows what the format looks like, and demonstates the use of the simple and most common commands. This is the same data as that listed in the Quick Tour section of this help file.
' This line is ignored since it starts with a ' Character.
' This is a sample survey listing
' in CavePlot-Text format
=N=This is a Fake Cave
=U=Meters
=I=Fake survey data for practice using CavePlot.
A
10 30 -45
A1 1 1 3 0
15.5 67 -10
A2 3 0 2 2
23 33 -15
A3 2 40 10 2
57 95 -5
B1 10 15 10 2
=C=The BIG ROOM
15 130 30
B2 1 1 0 2
10 105 -5
B3 1 0 0 1
=C=The Bitter End of a Fake Cave
=F=
More CavePlot-Text Info
Additions to this format in the future are likely. Additions will come in the form of additional "Commands". For this reason, unrecognized commands are stored in the station comments.
Besides my CavePlot-Text File format, CavePlot will also import and export survey data to and from some other text formats. These formats currently include the Karst.SUR and Compass.DAT formats. For more information on these other formats, see the documentation accompanying their parent programs, Karst and Compass, both of which are DOS programs.
Detailed Explanation of Commands
=N= Precedes the name of the survey
The rest of the line is put into the survey name.
Only the first 31 characters are used
Example =N=This is a Fake Cave
=U= Precedes the name of the Distance Units
The rest of the line is put into the Distance Units.
Only the first 15 characters are used
Example =U=Meters
=I= Precedes general information
The rest of the line is put into General Information.
Can have more than 1 General Information String
Total General Info is limited to 30,000 characters.
Example =I=This cave is really very awesome.
=I=It is so awesome, that we even mapped it.
=I=Even so, we could only find 50 meters
=I= of cave to map.
=C= Precedes a Station Comment
The rest of the line is put into a Station Comment.
Comments are limited to 254 characters per station.
Example =C=This station is directly over the pit!
=S1= Precedes a New Section Name
=S2= ...(1,2,or3 is Sect Set#)
=S3= ...As Above...
The rest of the line is a Section Name.
If not already created, CavePlot adds this Section
Following stations will all belong to this Section
