Process Help

PLOTCX - plot contours using spline contouring with extended options

 

Process Name

Menu Path

Link to Command Table

PLOTCX

Command line only

Click here

Introduction

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

How to use

Contours can be specified in four ways:

  1. In the simplest case contours are specified with the parameters CMIN, CMAX, CINT, , CHARSZ, NDP, HILIGHT and HI on the command line. The remaining methods are specified with an CONTOUR control file:

  2. Specify individual contour values with the CVALUE field.

  3. 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.

  4. 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:

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

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.


Files, Fields and Parameters

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 etc. 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.

No

'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.

No

Undefined

Undefined

Undefined

TOP

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

No

Undefined

Undefined

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.

No

Undefined

Undefined

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.

No

0

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).

No

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).

No

0

0,1

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.

No

2

2,3

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.

No

0

0,1

0,1

DPLUS

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

No

Undefined

Undefined

Undefined

DMINUS

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

No

Undefined

Undefined

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 (-).

No

-

Undefined

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 (-).

No

-

Undefined

Undefined

ZGORIG

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

No

-

Undefined

Undefined

GRIDHINC

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

No

-

Undefined

Undefined

GRIDVINC

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

No

-

Undefined

Undefined

GRIDINC

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

No

-

Undefined

Undefined

NOX

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

No

-

Undefined

Undefined

NOY

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

No

-

Undefined

Undefined

CMIN

Minimum contour value in user data units.

No

Undefined

Undefined

Undefined

CMAX

Maximum contour value in user data units.

No

Undefined

Undefined

Undefined

CINT

Contour interval in user data units.

No

Undefined

Undefined

Undefined

HILIGHT

Highlight every Nth contour with HI.

No

Undefined

Undefined

Undefined

HI

Colour [as 'pen' number] for highlighting.

No

Undefined

Undefined

Undefined

CHARSZ

Character size in millimetres for contour annotation (3.5).

No

3.5

Undefined

Undefined

 

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

No

1

Undefined

Undefined

NDP

Number of decimal places for annotation.

No

Undefined

Undefined

Undefined

ANNOTATE

Frequency of contour line annotation in millimetres (100).

No

100

Undefined

Undefined

DENSITY

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

No

0

Undefined

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).

No

0.1

Undefined

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 (+).

No

+

Undefined

Undefined

CELLSAMP

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

No

1

Undefined

Undefined

EXTRAP

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

No

0

Undefined

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).

No

0

0,1

Undefined

POWER

Interpolation power (2).

No

2

Undefined

Undefined

RADIUS

Interpolation search radius (+).

No

+

Undefined

Undefined

B

Colour for plotting boundary outline (-).

No

-

Undefined

Undefined

BCODE

Linecode for plotting boundary outline (1001).

No

1001

Undefined

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).

No

1.0

Undefined

Undefined

PVALINC

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

No

1.0

Undefined

Undefined

GRCOLR

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

No

-

Undefined

Undefined

XGRIDINT

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

No

0

Undefined

Undefined

YGRIDINT

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

No

0

Undefined

Undefined

ZGRIDINT

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

No

0

Undefined

Undefined

XGRIDNDP

X grid number of decimal places (0).

No

0

Undefined

Undefined

YGRIDNDP

Y grid number of decimal places (0).

No

0

Undefined

Undefined

ZGRIDNDP

Z grid number of decimal places (0).

No

0

Undefined

Undefined

XSCALE

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

No

Undefined

Undefined

Undefined

YSCALE

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

No

Undefined

Undefined

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.

No

1

Undefined

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).

No

0

0,1

0,1

PRINT

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

No

Undefined

Undefined

Undefined


Notes

Set section orientation as follows :-

>>> SELECT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING --

  1. VERTICAL OR INCLINED SECTION DEFINED ABOUT CENTRE POINT

  2. VERTICAL SECTION DEFINED BY END POINTS

  3. PLAN VIEW DEFINED BY CORNER POINTS

  4. 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.

 


Example

!PLOTCX  

 


Error and Warning Messages

Message

Description

Solution