proper

Process Help

PROPER - copy a perimeter file performing various operations

Process Name	Menu Path	Link to Command Table
PROPER	Data ribbon \| Data Tools \| 3D Utilities \| Process Strings	Click here

Introduction
Files, Fields and Parameters
Notes
Example
Errors

Introduction

This process copies and conditions a set of perimeters.

How to use

This process is used to perform the following operations:

add an AREA field;
make all perimeters clockwise/anticlockwise;
close/open all perimeters;
set min/max chord length;
reduce number of points by percentage;
extend/shrink perimeters.

Optionally the input may be treated as strings as opposed to perimeters. If so parameters AREA, CLOCKWSE, VPLANE, EXTEND and CROSS are ignored.

The reduce and tolerance options will not remove points that have a valid TAG. That is if a field TAG exists and is not set to 0 or missing.

Input perimeters must be planar. If the perimeters are within 6 digit tolerance of either the XY, XZ or YZ then they will be assumed to lie on the orthogonal plane. The output perimeters will be constant in the third dimension. This is useful if the perimeters have numerical rounding errors produced by prior processing. Non-planar perimeters will not be processed or output.

All perimeters will automatically be checked for crossovers and consecutive duplicate points. The duplicate points will be removed, however, the malformed perimeters will not be processed or output.

After point reduction or extension some perimeters may become malformed. These will be reported and output.

Extra points added by use of the @EXTEND or @DMAX parameters will have all attribute values set the same as the first point of the original perimeter.

For perimeters that are not on an orthogonal plane clockwise direction will be taken from an orthogonal view plane. All perimeters in parallel planes will have the same clockwise sense.

This process may be run without an output file for checking perimeters and reporting areas. It may not be run in place.

Files, Fields and Parameters

Input Files

Name	Description	I/O Status	Required	Type
PERIMIN	The input perimeter file. The fields required are XP,YP,ZP,PTN, and PVALUE (standard perimeter format). All perimeters in the file will be used. All other fields will be copied. Perimeters must be planar.	Input	Yes	String

Output Files

Name	I/O Status	Required	Type	Description
PERIMOUT	Output	No	String	Output perimeter file. Contains all fields from the input file plus optionally AREA.

Parameters

Name

Description

Required

Default

Range

Values

MODE

For MODE=1 only parameters CLOSE, DMAX, TOL, REDUCE are used to treat strings.

=0 : Treat as perimeters.

=1 : Treat as strings.

0,1

AREA

field containing perimeter area creation flag

=0 : dont create field AREA in PERIMOUT .

=1 : create field AREA in PERIMOUT .

0,1

=0 : will remove last point of a perimeter if perimeter is closed. .

=1 : will add first point to end of perimeter if perimeter not closed..

Undefined

-,0,1

CLOCKWSE

=0 : make all perimeters anti-clockwise.

=1 : make all perimeters clockwise.

Undefined

-,0,1

VPLANE

Viewing plane for clockwise sense for non-orthogonal planes (1).

=1 : XY plane from +Z.

=2 : XZ plane from -Y.

=3 : YZ plane from +X.

1,3

1,2,3

DMAX

The maximum chord length used when inserting additional points into long chords.

Undefined

TOL

Minimum allowable chord length used when removing points. Default is (0) for removal of consecutive duplicates.

Undefined

REDUCE

Percentage point reduction 0 to 90 (0).

0,90

Undefined

EXTEND

+/- perpendicular extension distance (0).

Undefined

CROSS

Option	Description
(0)	do not attempt to resolve crossovers in extended perimeters.

0,1

ZEROXYZ

Internally set the X, Y or Z value of input perimeters to zero. An example of when this is useful is if you want to calculate plan areas of 3 dimensional perimeters

=(0) : Do not internally adjust any coordinates in the input perimeters..

=1 : Internally treat all X coordinates in the input strings as zero.

=2 : Internally treat all Y coordinates in the input strings as zero.

=3 : Internally treat all Z coordinates in the input strings as zero.

Yes

0,3

0,1,2,3

Notes

No additional notes.

Example

!PROPER

&PERIMIN(PIN),&PERIMOUT(POUT)
@AREA=1,@CLOSE=0,@CLOCKWSE=0,@DMAX=200,@TOL=1,@REDUCE=0,@EXTEND=10,@CROSS=-

PROPER TIME > 9:30:41

Perimeter 1.0000 Input Area = 206491.10 Points = 31 C/W
Perimeter 1.0000 Output Area = 297585.82 Points = 50 A/C

>>> 50 RECORDS IN FILE POUT <<<

Error and Warning Messages

Message	Description	Solution
>>> &PERIMIN FILE NOT FOUND <<< >>> &PERIMIN FIELD ERRORS <<< >>> &PERIMOUT file missing <<<	Warning only, output is optional.

>>> Empty perimeter file !!! Perimeter nnn does not have enough points.	Perimeters has less than 3 points.

>>> Perimeter nnn not in valid plane.	Perimeter is not planar.

>>> Perimeter nnn has too many points - ignored. >>> Perimeter nnn malformed - ignored.	The perimeter contains crossovers

>>> Perimeter nnn output malformed.	After point reduction or extension the perimeter has become malformed.

>>> Perimeter points = not output.	After point reduction or extension the perimeter has less than 3 points.

>>> Perimeter nn distance between mmm and kkk < tolerance.	Points within tolerance being reduced.

>>> Perimeter nnn input area = nnn points = kkk C/W	Summary for each input perimeter after reduction by tolerance giving area, number of points and direction ( C/W or A/C).

>>> Perimeter nnn output area = mmm points = kkk C/W	Summary for each output perimeter giving area, number of points and direction (C/W or A/C).

>>> Deviation between planes: >>> Minimum deviation: nnn >>> Maximum deviation: mmm	Summary of deviations in degrees between the planes of the perimeters.