PLOTCX Process

Note: This legacy plotting process is no longer supported or developed. It is included here for legacy macro support only. For interactive plot creation and editing functions, with template and automation support, consider the Plots window tools.

To access this process:

Enter "PLOTCX" into the Command Line and press ENTER.
Display the Find Command screen, locate PLOTCX and click Run.

See this process in the Command Table.

Process Overview

Spline contouring in plan, orthogonal sections or a rotated section plane with point, wireframe or block model data.

Contours can be specified in four ways:

In the simplest case contours are specified with the parameters CMIN, CMAX, CINT, CHARSZ, NDP, HILIGHT and HI. The remaining methods are specified with a CONTOUR control file:
Specify individual contour values with the CVALUE field.
Specify a sequence of contour values and replicate the contour values by adding the difference between the smallest and largest contour values to each contour in turn. This method can be applied to contouring data on a logarithmic annotation interval.
Specify major and minor contour intervals such that all contour intervals are multiples of the smallest interval.

Data in the CINT field can be bounded by values in the CMIN and CMAX parameters. Additional control on contour display is available with the use of optional fields C, LINECODE, CHARSZ, NDP, ANNOTATE and DENSITY fields. These controls can be specified for individual contours, and groups of contours.

Further parameters are supplied to control the interpretation of the contour specification. FREQ requests that the distribution of the contoured data be analyzed to plot contours at the frequency intervals requested. LOG requests a logarithmic transformation of the data before applying the contour specification.

The data to be contoured can be handled in 3 ways:

Plotting in the XY plane using data limits supplied by the plot prototype. This case is applied to point data with the X , Y and VALUE fields specified, or wireframe data where the elevation ZP is contoured. The PLANE parameter should not be supplied, or three dimensional coordinates will be expected in the input point file.
Projection of point data, wireframes, or sampling of models in one of the three orthogonal directions using the plot prototype to define the data limits in the nominated view.
Projection of data onto a plane defined by a section definition, using the clipping parameters DPLUS and DMINUS for point or wireframe data. The distance of the points from the plane is contoured unless a field is specified with FIELD. Models are intersected with the section plane and the intersected block values contoured.
A grid can be overplotted in the section plane.

The data from the point, wireframe or model is triangulated and contoured on the nominated mesh interval, with optional control on the location of the mesh origin. For model data, the mesh origin and size should be based on the model data definition.

The process will accept a model which has been defined using the Rotated Model option in PROTOM. A message will be displayed to show that the model has been identified as a Rotated Model.

Note: Additional smoothing and extrapolation can be applied prior to contouring.

The contour strings can be output to a string file. The contours generated can be clipped to a bounding perimeter.

Process Options

Set section orientation as follows :-

>>> SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING --

VERTICAL OR INCLINED SECTION DEFINED ABOUT CENTRE POINT

VERTICAL SECTION DEFINED BY END POINTS

PLAN VIEW DEFINED BY CORNER POINTS

SECTION FROM SECTION DEFINITION

>>> Supply 1,2, or 3 (or 4) as appropriate.

If 1 selected, interaction as follows

XC >	X co-ordinate of centre of plane
YC >	Y co-ordinate of centre of plane
ZC >	Z co-ordinate of centre of plane
DIP>	Dip of section plane
AZI>	Azimuth of section plane
HSIZE >	Horizontal size of section plane
VSIZE >	Vertical size of section plane

These are then echoed back, followed by the prompt:

ARE THESE CORRECT (Y/N) ?

If any reply other than Y or y, interaction repeated from the beginning.

If 2 selected, interaction as follows:

X1 >	X co-ordinate of bottom left corner of section plane
Y1 >	Y co-ordinate of bottom left corner of section plane
X2 >	X co-ordinate of top right corner of section plane
Y2 >	Y co-ordinate of top right corner of section plane
Z1 >	Z co-ordinate of bottom left corner of section plane
Z2 >	Z co-ordinate of top right corner of section plane

These are then echoed back, followed by the prompt:

ARE THESE CORRECT (Y/N) ?

If any reply other than Y or y, interaction repeated from the beginning.

If 3 selected, interaction as follows -

DEFINE XMIN,YMIN,XMAX, AND YMAX
X1 >	X co-ordinate of bottom left corner of section plane
Y1 >	Y co-ordinate of bottom left corner of section plane
X2 >	X co-ordinate of top right corner of section plane
Y2 >	Y co-ordinate of top right corner of section plane
ZC >	Z co-ordinate of section plane.

These are then echoed back, followed by the prompt:

ARE THESE CORRECT (Y/N) ?

If any reply other than Y or y, interaction repeated from the beginning.

If 4 selected, interaction is as follows:

WHICH SECTION DO YOU WANT (OR ? FOR A LIST)

Enter required SVALUE field, or ? for a list of available sections.

Input Files

Name	Description	I/O Status	Required	Type
PROTO	Plot prototype file. Must contain the fields X, Y, S1, S2, CODE (numeric, explicit) and XMIN, XMAX, YMIN, YMAX, XSCALE, YSCALE (numeric, implicit). If these last 6 values set in PROTO , then corresponding parameters need not be set. Optional only if APPEND=1	Input	No	Plot Prototype
SECTION	Optional section definition file.	Input	No	Section Definition
BOUND	Optional bounding perimeter. No contours will produced outside this perimeter. Must contain fields XP, YP, ZP, PTN and PVALUE. This file must contain only one perimeter, must be clockwise and must not be closed.	Input	No	String
POINT	Input raw data point file.	Input	No	Points
WIRETR	Input wireframe triangle file.	Input	No	Wireframe Triangle
WIREPT	Input wireframe point file.	Input	No	Wireframe Points
MODEL	Input model file. Must contain fields XC, YC, ZC, XINC, YINC, ZINC, XMORIG, YMORIG, ZMORIG, NX, NY, NZ, IJK and FIELD. If it is a Rotated Model then it must also include the fields X0, Y0, Z0, ANGLE1, ANGLE2, ANGLE3, ROTAXIS1, ROTAXIS2, and ROTAXIS3.	Input	No	Block Model
CONTOUR	Input file containing one or more of the following fields to specify control over contour output: CVALUE Individual contour values. CINT Contour interval. C Contour colour value. LINECODE Contour linecode 1001 and so on. CHARSZ Annotation character size. NDP Number of decimal places. ANNOTATE Frequency of contour line annotation in millimetres. DENSITY Maximum contour density in lines per millimetre. The contour specification will be interpreted in logarithmic values if NLOG>0 and frequency percentages if FREQ>0.0.	Input	No	Undefined

Output Files

Name	I/O Status	Required	Type	Description
PLOT	Output	Yes	Plot	Output plot file.
STRING	Output	No	String	Optional output string file. If selected this file be written out as well as the plot file and will contain fields XP, YP, ZP, PTN and PVALUE. The value of PVALUE field is determined from the PVALST and PVALIN parameters.

Fields

Name	Description	Source	Required	Type	Default
X	X field in input point file. Only required if contouring raw data.	POINT	No	Numeric	Undefined
Y	Y field in input point file. Only required if contouring raw data.	POINT	No	Numeric	Undefined
Z	Z field in input point file. Only required if contouring raw data, and either the PLANE parameter or a section definition file is supplied.	POINT	No	Numeric	Undefined
FIELD	Field to be contoured. Required for contouring raw data or solid model. Optional for contouring a wireframe.	Undefined	No	Undefined	Undefined
SEAM	Seam ID field. Only required if contouring solid model.	MODEL	No	Any	Undefined

Parameters

Name

Description

Required

Default

Range

Values

PLANE

Plane, 'XY', 'XZ' or 'YZ' through the data for projection of data onto a plane.

'XY'

Undefined

'XY', 'XZ', 'YZ'

POSITION

Position of the plane. For example if the XY plane is used a Z position is needed. Only required if neither TOP nor BOTTOM are specified.

Undefined

TOP

Value of FIELD for which top of seam contour required. Only required if neither POSITION nor BOTTOM appear.

Undefined

BOTTOM

Value of FIELD for which base of seam contour required. Only required if neither POSITION nor TOP appear. Both TOP and BOTTOM set for an isopach.

Undefined

TYPE

Force the interpretation of the command line and contour specification file data: - derived from the parameters/files supplied

Option	Description
0	command line parameters
1	contour values from CVALUE field
2	contour values from CVALUE field with repetition in cycles
3	major/minor contour intervals from CINT field.

0,3

0,1,2,3

LOG

Logarithmic conversion of data to be contoured to base 10 [1] or base e [2], with the contour specification interpreted in logarithmic values. Default is no conversion (0).

0,2

0,1,2

FREQ

Convert the data to be contoured to a frequency distribution, apply the specified contour values as percentages, and annotate the raw data values (0).

0,1

SYSTEM

If set to 3 then perimeters in the BOUND and STRING files are treated as true 3D. eg if the graphics display is showing a YZ plane then a perimeter in this plane should have YP and ZP varing with XP constant. The default is (2). Under the default system XP and YP vary and ZP is constant, whichever plane is displayed.

2,3

SECTION

Force the specification of a section definition if non-zero (0). The definition can also be selected from the section definition file, if supplied.

0,1

DPLUS

The search distance measured in the increasing direction from the section definition plane.

Undefined

DMINUS

The search distance measured in the decreasing direction from the section definition plane.

Undefined

XGORIG

Grid origin of mesh in user data units on the horizontal plotted axis. If a section definition is specified, then supply the true X coordinate (-).

Undefined

YGORIG

Grid origin of mesh in user data units on the vertical plotted axis. If a section definition is specified, then supply the true Y coordinate (-).

Undefined

ZGORIG

Grid origin of mesh in user data units in the true Z coordinate for a section definition (-).

Undefined

GRIDHINC

Grid interval of mesh in user data units on the horizontal plotted axis (-).

Undefined

GRIDVINC

Grid interval of mesh in user data units on the vertical plotted axis (-).

Undefined

GRIDINC

Alternate specification of regular mesh interval in user data units (-).

Undefined

NOX

Maximum number of mesh intervals on the horizontal plotted axis (-).

Undefined

NOY

Maximum number of mesh intervals on the vertical plotted axis (-).

Undefined

CMIN

Minimum contour value in user data units.

Undefined

CMAX

Maximum contour value in user data units.

Undefined

CINT

Contour interval in user data units.

Undefined

HILIGHT

Highlight every Nth contour with HI.

Undefined

Colour [as 'pen' number] for highlighting.

Undefined

CHARSZ

Character size in millimetres for contour annotation (3.5).

3.5

Undefined

Colour [as 'pen' number] for plot (1).

Undefined

NDP

Number of decimal places for annotation.

Undefined

ANNOTATE

Frequency of contour line annotation in millimetres (100).

100

Undefined

DENSITY

Maximum contour density in contour lines per millimetre. A default cutout is applied if not specified (0).

Undefined

CSMOOTH

Smoothing factor to apply in contour generation by controlling the maximum step size in a mesh interval. A value of 0.1 will produce a smooth contour, 0.5 will produce a coarse contour. Use one of 0.1, 0.25 0.5 (0.1).

0.1

Undefined

MAXLINK

The maximum separation of points that will be joined by a triangle. By default a convex hull will be formed around all points (+).

Undefined

CELLSAMP

The number of intervals to sample cells to approximate the subcell variation for orthogonal plane contouring of models (1).

Undefined

EXTRAP

Distance to extrapolate the data before contouring in the plane of the contour (0).

Undefined

GSMOOTH

Smoothing factor to apply to the mesh data before contouring. A value between 0 and 1 will interpolate a result between the triangulated value at 0 and an inverse distance result for 1 (0).

0,1

Undefined

POWER

Interpolation power (2).

Undefined

RADIUS

Interpolation search radius (+).

Undefined

Colour for plotting boundary outline (-).

Undefined

BCODE

Linecode for plotting boundary outline (1001).

1001

Undefined

PVALST

If STRING file requested, for the first string to be written PVALUE will be set to PVALST. For the following strings PVALUE is incremented by PVALINC (1.0).

1.0

Undefined

PVALINC

If STRING file requested, PVALUE value increment (1.0).

1.0

Undefined

GRCOLR

Preferred grid colour where a grid is to be plotted for a specified section definition (-).

Undefined

XGRIDINT

X grid interval, 0 no X grid (0).

Undefined

YGRIDINT

Y grid interval, 0 no Y grid (0).

Undefined

ZGRIDINT

Z grid interval, 0 no Z grid (0).

Undefined

XGRIDNDP

X grid number of decimal places (0).

Undefined

YGRIDNDP

Y grid number of decimal places (0).

Undefined

ZGRIDNDP

Z grid number of decimal places (0).

Undefined

XSCALE

X scale in user data units per millimetre. If specified here or in PROTO this value will override section limits.

Undefined

YSCALE

Y scale in user data units per millimetre. If specified here or in PROTO this value will override section limits.

Undefined

VERTEXAG

Controls vertical exaggeration when a section definition file is included. This must be set to allow different scales. The default is forced equal scales (1). If the input model is a Rotated Model then the process will always set VERTEXAG to 1 and display a warning message. = 0 allows different scales for both axes determined by XSCALE and YSCALE if provided or else by filling the data area to the section limits. > 0 sets value of XSCALE/YSCALE.

Undefined

APPEND

Plot append flag. If set to 1 then the new plot will be appended to the PLOT file, if it exists and is a valid plot file (0).

0,1

>0 to display contouring information. 1 contour control file 2 mesh values

Undefined