Process Help

A full description of the input-survey-data process.

SURLOG (input-survey-data)

Process Name

Menu Path

Link to Command Table

SURLOG

Command line only

Click Here

 

Introduction

SURLOG is a data input process which will read a character format system file containing records of survey information and measurements as recorded on a digital data recorder by electronic survey equipment.

How to use

This process constitutes the first step in survey data processing, creating a  Datamine (*.dm) file of the survey measurements. The file stored on the data logger containing the measurements will have to be transferred to the computer, as an ASCII format file, prior to running this process.

The process will create up to three output files of data containing general survey job information, coordinates of the survey stations occupied and referenced during the survey and angle and/or distance measurements taken to fix the position of survey stations or mining excavations. The output files can then be input to suitable survey measurement reduction processes:

SURTAC 

Reduction of survey tacheometry measurements.

SUROBS

Reduction of measurements to survey stations.

 

It is suitable for the input of survey data, where job header information records are followed by measured angles and distances to surface or underground features. It can also be used for the input of borehole logs where header records containing borehole identifier and collar coordinates are followed by down-the-hole measurements to lithological contacts and mineral assay samples. The data needs to be processed further to compute sample positions in space for geological interpretation work:

DESURV 

Drillhole survey data is used to produce a file of samples independently located in space.

SURLOG

combines the data input capabilities of existing processes and provides extended flexibility in allowing the output to multiple files and also the re-formatting of data. The following processes allow the user to input fixed or free format data interactively or from an ASCII system file:

INDATA

Free format data input (maximum of 80 character line width).

INPUTW

Fixed format data input (maximum of 240 character line width).

 

The format supplied by the user in these processes are fixed for every record read from the system file, and records not matching the prescribed format are rejected.

The reading of the input system file in SURLOG is controlled by user-defined input format files.

The Reference Manual material describes the operation of the process as well as details of the files, fields and parameters required to run the process. It also contains a reference to error messages. Detailed examples of usage of this process to input different survey data formats are contained in the Demonstration Guide for the mine surveying module.

File Handling

Input system file of survey measurements.

The SURLOG process requires an ASCII system file of, typically, survey measurements, that have been transferred from a digital data recording device. Transmission of the data will normally be achieved through a serial communications cable. The data format is usually selected on the data recorder. If in doubt, the data must be transmitted as if sending to a printer device. A very basic way of achieving this, once the correct cable has been connected, would be to follow the following steps:

On a PC type:

type COM1>obs.dat

On the data recorder, send the data through command or menu selection. Once the transmission is complete:

On the PC press Ctrl and Break keys to terminate the process. This example assumes the cable from the recorder is connected to COM1 serial port.

On a workstation type:

catf /dev/sio1>obs.dat (Apollo Domain Aegis) or

cat /dev/sio1>obs.dat (Unix)

Again, send the data from the data recorder, terminating on the workstation with Cntrl and Q or Cntrl and C keys. The actual device name will depend on the port to which the recorder is connected.

Format Files

The system file that has been transferred from the data recorder, needs to be input to the Datamine database for reduction and analysis. SURLOG requires format files to have been created, in order to decode the information in the system file and create Datamine files of the survey measurements.

The process AED (Full-screen editor) can be used to set up the format files required for data to be input to your application. 

As a Datamine format file can be easily created or edited, formats that do not match those supplied can be easily supported, without the need to provide dedicated programs.

The following fields must be created in order to describe the field names and type in a new format file:

FIELD

TYPE

LENGTH

STORED

VALUES

FIELD

A

8

Y

 

TYPE

A

4

Y

A,N

LENGTH

N

4

Y

 

STORED

A

4

Y

Y,N

 

The following fields must be created in order to describe the position and format of the field values in the input system file:

FIELD

TYPE

LENGTH

STORED

VALUES

CODE

A

8

Y

 

FORMAT

A

4

Y

FIX,FREE

START

A

8

Y

 

END

A

8

Y

 

INFORMAT

N

4

Y

 

 

The following fields must be created in order to describe the output format and sequence of the field values in the output file to be created:

FIELD

TYPE

LENGTH

STORED

VALUES

OUFORMAT

N

4

Y

 

UNIT

A

4

Y

' ', DMS, GONS

WRITE

N

4

Y

0, 1, -1

 

The interpretation of the input data is controlled by user defined format files. Each format file controls the data flow to one output file, and therefore, different categories of data can be stored in separate files.

 

                    

 

 


Files, Fields and Parameters

Input Files

Name

Description

I/O Status

Required

Type

 

 

 

 

 

Output Files

Name

I/O Status

Required

Type

Description

 

 

 

 

 

Parameters

Name

Description

Required

Default

Range

Values


Examples

Input of data from a TOPCON FC-5 data recorder

The following represents the command syntax required to run the SURLOG process to input the data described below and would be the required entry in a macro of commands to process survey data.

!SURLOG     &FORMAT1(TOPCF),&OUT1(TOPCD)
TOPCON1.DAT

An extract from the TOPCON1.DAT ASCII system file, as transferred from the TOPCON FC-5 data recorder in 'printer' format:-

JOB#    002 
NAME    DC 
INST#    GTS 
DATE     JUL-31-90 
TEMP     28 _C/_F 
PRES     790 Hg/mb 
OCC.ST#    DC2A 
ID    DC2 
INS.HT    1.326 
PT#  100 
H     +2253250d 
V     0894630d 
SD    +00097209m 
TIME     22:36:17 
PCODE  1 C 
R.HT     1.428
PT# 101 
H     +2330545d 
V     0895825d 
SD    +00095855m 
TIME     22:36:55 
PCODE  1 C 
R.HT     1.428 

The Datamine format file required as input to SURLOG to control the decoding of the TOPCON1.DAT data is, in OUTPUT format:-

TOPCF 
FILE  CREATED BY         USING AED         ON 30/ 1/91 
        36     36 
FIELD     A   1   1 
FIELD     A   2   2 
TYPE      A   1   3 
LENGTH    N   1   4         0.000000E+00 
STORED    A   1   5 
CODE      A   1   6 
CODE      A   2   7 
FORMAT    A   1   8   FREE 
START     A   1   9 
START     A   2  10 
END       A   1  11 
END       A   2  12 
INFORMAT  N   1  13         0.000000E+00 
OUFORMAT  N   1  14         0.000000E+00 
UNIT      A   1  15 
WRITE     N   1  16         0.000000E+00 
VALUES    A   1  17 
VALUES    A   2  18 
VALUES    A   3  19 
VALUES    A   4  20 
VALUES    A   5  21 
VALUES    A   6  22 
VALUES    A   7  23 
VALUES    A   8  24 
VALUES    A   9  25 
VALUES    A  10  26 
VALUES    A  11  27 
VALUES    A  12  28 
VALUES    A  13  29 
VALUES    A  14  30 
VALUES    A  15  31 
VALUES    A  16  32 
VALUES    A  17  33 
VALUES    A  18  34 
VALUES    A  19  35 
VALUES    A  20  36 

 

JOBNUM  

N  

4.0  

Y  

JOB#  

FIX  

8  

10  

3.0  

3.0  

0.0  

-

SURVEYOR  

A  

2.0  

Y  

NAME  

FIX  

8  

11  

2.0  

4.0  

0.0

 

INSTNUM  

A  

3.0  

Y  

INST#  

FIX  

8  

11  

3.0  

4.0  

0.0

 

DATE  

A  

9.0  

Y  

DATE  

FIX  

9  

17  

9.0  

9.0  

0.0

 

TEMP  

N  

4.0  

Y  

TEMP  

FIX  

9  

10  

2.0  

2.0  

0.0  

-

PRESS  

N  

4.0  

Y  

PRES  

FIX  

9  

11  

3.0  

3.0  

0.0  

-

INSTSTN  

A  

4.0  

Y  

OCC.ST#  

FIX  

9  

12  

4.0  

4.0  

0.0

 

RO  

A  

4.0  

Y  

ID  

FIX  

4  

7  

4.0  

4.0  

0.0

 

INSTHT  

N  

4.0  

Y  

INS.HT  

FIX  

9  

13  

4.3  

4.3  

0.0  

-

TARGET  

N\  

4.0  

Y  

PT#  

FIX  

5  

7  

3.0  

3.0  

0.0  

-

HZTARG  

N  

4.0  

Y  

H  

FIX  

8  

14  

7.0  

7.4  

DMS  

0.0  

VATARG  

N  

4.0  

Y  

V  

FIX  

7  

13  

7.0  

7.4  

DMS  

0.0  

SDTARG  

N  

4.0  

Y  

SD  

FIX  

9  

15  

7.0  

7.3  

0.0  

-

PVALUE  

N  

4.0  

Y  

PCODE  

FREE  

-  

-  

0.0  

-

 

 

SCODE  

A  

1.0  

Y  

PCODE  

FREE  

-  

-  

0.0

 

 

 

TARGHT  

N  

4.0  

Y  

R.HT  

FIX  

10  

14  

4.3  

4.3  

1.0  

-

 

The output Datamine file of survey measurements created by process SURLOG, in OUTPUT format. Note that field values for fields SURVEYOR and INSTNUM have been omitted due to width constraints in printing:-

TOPCD 
FILE  CREATED BY         USING AED             ON 30/ 1/91 
        18     18 
JOBNUM     N  1   1          -0.100000E+31 
SURVEYOR   A  1   2 
INSTNUM    A  1   3 
DATE       A  1   4 
DATE       A  2   5 
DATE       A  3   6 
TEMP       N  1   7          -0.100000E+31 
PRESS      N  1   8          -0.100000E+31 
INSTSTN    A  1   9 
RO         A  1  10 
INSTHT     N  1  11          -0.100000E+31 
TARGET     N  1  12          -0.100000E+31 
HZTARG     N  1  13          -0.100000E+31 
VATARG     N  1  14          -0.100000E+31 
SDTARG     N  1  15          -0.100000E+31 
PVALUE     N  1  16          -0.100000E+31 
SCODE      A  1  17 
TARGHT     N  1  18          -0.100000E+31
2.0 DC 28.0 790.0 DC2A DC2 1.32 100.0 225.325  89.463   97.209 1.0  C  1.42
2.0 DC 28.0 790.0 DC2A DC2 1.32 101.0 233.0545 89.5825  95.855 1.0  C  1.42
2.0 DC 28.0 790.0 DC2A DC2 1.32 102.0 241.1825 90.461  100.359 1.0  C  1.42
2.0 DC 28.0 790.0 DC2A DC2 1.32 103.0 250.044  90.283  104.962 1.0  C  1.42
2.0 DC 28.0 790.0 DC2A DC2 1.32 104.0 251.4925 90.115  109.571 1.0  C  1.42
2.0 DC 28.0 790.0 DC2A DC2 1.32 105.0 254.521  89.3335 110.808 1.0  C  1.42
2.0 DC 28.0 790.0 DC2A DC2 1.32 106.0 258.2105 88.511  106.97  1.0  C  1.42

An example of the format entry required to read data from ASCII file TOPCON1.DAT:-

The following record may be found, typically, as output from a TOPCON FC-5 data recorder. It represents a horizontal direction measurement in degrees, minutes and seconds form. Column numbers are indicated above for clarity.

123456789012345
H     +2253250d

A format file entry to read this data would be:-

FIELD  TYPE  LENGTH  STORED  CODE  FORMAT  START  END INFORMAT
--------------------------------------------------------------
HZTARG    N     4.0       Y     H     FIX      8   14      7.0

A record containing the CODE ' H' in the first two characters must be found before any format decoding proceeds. The process will then decode a numeric value from columns 8-14 inclusive. The format of the input data is seven digits, the decimal point is absent. Therefore, the INFORMAT field is set to seven.

Once a value has been read from the input record, the following fields are used from the format file to control how and when a value is written to the output file, namely:-

FIELD  OUFORMAT  UNIT  WRITE
----------------------------
HZTARG      7.4  DMS     0.0

The seven digits read from the input file are re-formatted into the DDD.MMSS format for degrees, minutes and seconds, using the OUFORMAT value (F)7.4. The UNIT field value of DMS checks the number for consistency before storing into the output file. In this example, the value for HZTARG is held until it is updated by a subsequent value in the system file, or until a WRITE field value of 1.0 is encountered, at which point a record is written to the output file of survey measurements. #12;Input of data in MOSS format

The following represents the command syntax required to run the SURLOG process to input the data described below and would be the required entry in a macro of commands to process survey data. MOSS is a civil engineering software package, in use worldwide.

!SURLOG &FORMAT1(MOSSF1), &FORMAT2(MOSSF2), &OUT1(MOSSSTA), &OUT2(MOSSD), *X(XO), *Y(YO), @LOXORIG=370000.0, @LOYORIG=140000.0
QS020290.DAT

An extract from the QS020290.DAT ASCII file with survey data in MOSS format.

MOSS
DELETE,WH160190 DETAIL 
CREATE,WH160190 DETAIL 
SURVEY,WH160190 DETAIL 
000Job________ QUARRY SURVEY ____________________ 16-01-1990 
017DMS DMS 
180,3=WH01,,372780.140,147784.330,131.810 
180,3=WH02,,372918.920,148573.060,139.980 
180,3=WH10,,372400.280,147593.333,140.691 
180,3=WH11,,372739.208,148486.775,125.160 
180,3=WH12,,373197.689,148236.850,128.003 
180,3=WH13,,372839.686,148194.034,67.008 
180,3=WH14,,372557.197,148178.467,92.820 
180,3=WH16,,372926.120,148223.114,67.689 
190,3=DECR,900000 
200,WH01,WH02,VASD,1961920,7=1.551,1.0,121.661,0.9996100000 
000,STATION WHII 
201,,,PW11,1830035,903458,703.934,1.100,,,10=0175 
201,,,,1830037,903455,703.935,1.100,,,10=0176 
201,,,,1830034,903455,703.938,1.100,,,10=0177 
201,,,,1830028,903459,703.932,1.100,,,10=0178 
190,3=DECR,900000 
200,WH10,WH01,VASD,2095111,7=1.550 
000,TOP FACE 
201,,,T001,2094105,911543,423.457,1.300,,,10=0005 
000,DD 
201,,,,2092647,912838,273.729,1.300,,,10=0006 
000,DD 
201,,,,2090917,911922,145.878,1.300,,,10=0007 
000,DD 
201,,,,2073709,912313,42.425,1.300,,,10=0008 
000,DD 
201,,,,301251,893049,91.751,1.300,,,10=0009 
201,,,,311404,892746,158.178,1.300,,,10=0010 

The Datamine format file required as input to SURLOG to control the decoding of the survey station coordinates in QS020290.DAT data, in OUTPUT format:- 

MOSSF1 
FILE  CREATED BY         USING AED         ON 27/ 5/91 
        36     36 
FIELD     A  1   1 
FIELD     A  2   2 
TYPE      A  1   3 
LENGTH    N  1   4             0.000000E+00 
STORED    A  1   5 
FORMAT    A  1   6     FREE 
INFORMAT  N  1   7             0.000000E+00 
OUFORMAT  N  1   8             0.000000E+00 
START     A  1   9 
START     A  2  10 
END       A  1  11 
END       A  2  12 
CODE      A  1  13 
CODE      A  2  14 
UNIT      A  1  15 
WRITE     N  1  16             0.000000E+00 
VALUES    A  1  17 
VALUES    A  2  18 
VALUES    A  3  19 
VALUES    A  4  20 
VALUES    A  5  21 
VALUES    A  6  22 
VALUES    A  7  23 
VALUES    A  8  24 
VALUES    A  9  25 
VALUES    A  10 26 
VALUES    A  11 27 
VALUES    A  12 28 
VALUES    A  13 29 
VALUES    A  14 30 
VALUES    A  15 31 
VALUES    A  16 32 
VALUES    A  17 33 
VALUES    A  18 34 
VALUES    A  19 35 
VALUES    A  20 36 

STATION  A  4.0  Y  FREE   4.0   4.0  ,3=   ,  180   0.0 
XO       N  4.0  Y  FREE  10.3  10.3  ,,    ,  180   0.0 
YO       N  4.0  Y  FREE  10.3  10.3  ,     ,  180   0.0 
ZO       N  4.0  Y  FREE   7.3   7.3  ,        180   1.0

The output Datamine file of survey station coordinates created by process SURLOG, in OUTPUT format:-

MOSSSTA 
FILE  CREATED BY             USING AED         ON 30/ 5/91 
        6       4 
X         N   1   1             0.000000E+00 
Y         N   1   2             0.000000E+00 
STATION   A   1   3 
Z         N   1   4            -0.100000E+31 
LOXORIG   N   1   0             0.370000E+06 
LOYORIG   N   1   0             0.140000E+06 
    2780.14     7784.33     WH01   131.81 
    2918.92     8573.06     WH02   139.98 
    2400.28     7593.333    WH10   140.691 
    2739.208    8486.775    WH11   125.16 
    3197.689    8236.85     WH12   128.003 
    2839.686    8194.034    WH13    67.008 
    2557.197    8178.467    WH14    92.82 
    2926.12     8223.114    WH16    67.689 

The Datamine format file required as input to SURLOG to control the decoding of the survey measurements in QS020290.DAT data, in OUTPUT format:- 

MOSSF2
FILE  CREATED BY             USING AED         ON 30/ 5/91 
        36     36 
FIELD     A   1   1 
FIELD     A   2   2 
TYPE      A   1   3 
LENGTH    N   1   4             0.000000E+00 
STORED    A   1   5 
FORMAT    A   1   6     FREE 
INFORMAT  N   1   7             0.000000E+00 
OUFORMAT  N   1   8             0.000000E+00 
START     A   1   9 
START     A   2  10 
END       A   1  11 
END       A   2  12 
CODE      A   1  13 
CODE      A   2  14 
UNIT      A   1  15 
WRITE     N   1  16             0.000000E+00 
VALUES    A   1  17 
VALUES    A   2  18 
VALUES    A   3  19 
VALUES    A   4  20 
VALUES    A   5  21 
VALUES    A   6  22 
VALUES    A   7  23 
VALUES    A   8  24 
VALUES    A   9  25 
VALUES    A  10  26 
VALUES    A  11  27 
VALUES    A  12  28 
VALUES    A  13  29 
VALUES    A  14  30 
VALUES    A  15  31 
VALUES    A  16  32 
VALUES    A  17  33 
VALUES    A  18  34 
VALUES    A  19  35 
VALUES    A  20  36 

REMARK  A  24.0  Y  FREE     24.0     24.0      ,           000     0.0 
INSTSTN A   4.0  Y  FREE      4.0      4.0      ,     ,     20?     0.0 
RO      A   4.0  Y  FREE      4.0      4.0      ,     ,     20?     0.0 
TARGET  A   4.0  Y  FREE      4.0      4.0      ,     ,     20?     0.0 
HZRO    N   4.0  Y  FREE      7.0      7.4      ,     ,     200 DMS 0.0 
INSTHT  N   4.0  Y  FREE      5.3      5.3      ,7=   ,     200     0.0 
HZTARG  N   4.0  Y  FREE      7.0      7.4      ,     ,     200 DMS 0.0 
VATARG  N   4.0  Y  FREE      7.0      7.4      ,     ,     201 DMS 0.0 
SDTARG  N   4.0  Y  FREE      -        -        ,     ,     201     0.0 
TARGHT  N   4.0  Y  FREE      5.3      5.3      ,           201     1.0 

The output Datamine file of survey measurements created by process SURLOG, in OUTPUT format (Note that the width of the REMARK field has been reduced):-

MOSSD 
FILE  CREATED BY MICL         USING COPY         ON 30/ 5/91 
        18     16 
REMARK     A  1   1 
REMARK     A  2   2 
REMARK     A  3   3 
REMARK     A  4   4 
REMARK     A  5   5 
REMARK     A  6   6 
INSTSTN    A  1   7 
RO         A  1   8 
TARGET     A  1   9 
HZRO       N  1  10             -0.100000E+31 
INSTHT     N  1  11             -0.100000E+31 
HZTARG     N  1  12             -0.100000E+31 
VATARG     N  1  13             -0.100000E+31 
SDTARG     N  1  14             -0.100000E+31 
TARGHT     N  1  15             -0.100000E+31 
LOXORIG    N  1   0              0.370000E+06 
LOYORIG    N  1   0              0.140000E+06 
STATION  WH01  WH02  PW11  196.1920   1.550   183.0035   90.3455   703.934  1.3
STATION  WH01  WH02  PW11  196.1920   1.550   182.0034   90.3455   703.938  1.3
STATION  WH01  WH02  PW11  196.1920   1.550   182.0028   90.3455   703.932  1.3
TOP      WH10  WH01  T001  209.5111   1.550   209.4105   91.1543   423.457  1.3
DD       WH10  WH01  T001  209.5111   1.550   209.2647   91.2838   273.729  1.3
DD       WH10  WH01  T001  209.5111   1.550   209.0917   91.1922   145.878  1.3 
DD       WH10  WH01  T001  209.5111   1.550   207.3709   91.2313    42.425  1.3
DD       WH10  WH01  T001  209.5111   1.550    30.1251   89.3049    91.751  1.3
DD       WH10  WH01  T001  209.5111   1.550    31.1404   89.2746   158.178  1.3


Error and Warning Messages

Process entry

The following messages may appear as a result of the incorrect input supplied by the user, when running the process. These errors can be split into the following categories:-

Files

The following messages relate to errors in the file names supplied by the user, when running the process.

*** Error

- One or both of the required files not specified:
XXXXXXXX
YYYYYYYY

One or more of the required files, &FORMAT1, &OUT1 has not been provided by the user. Fatal; the process will be exited.

*** Error

- Opening format file FORMATX
File XXXXXXXX does not exist.

The process can not open the input format file XXXXXXXX, as it does not exist. The file name may have been mis-typed, previously deleted or renamed. Re-enter the process and provide the correct file names. Fatal; the process will be exited.

*** Error

- Unable to write data definition to output file XXXXXXXX

The process has been unable to create the output file XXXXXXXX. Check that there is sufficient hard-disk storage space available.

*** Error

- System file does not exist.

The ASCII character system file specified does not exist. Check the file name supplied has not been mis-spelled. The process will be exited.

*** Error

- Both files &XXXXXXXX and &YYYYYYYY must be specified

Input and output files must be specified in pairs. For each input format file, there must be a corresponding output file supplied.

Fields

The following messages relate to errors in the field names supplied by the user, when running the process.

*** Error

- Symbolic field *XXXXXXXX not defined in the input FORMAT files.

The user supplied field *XXXXXXXX does not exist in any of the input format files. Check the input format files specified with the ADEDITOR process. The process will be exited.

Parameters

The following messages relate to errors in the parameters supplied by the user, when running the process.

*** Error

- Parameter XXXXXXXX value must be specified with coordinate field *XXXXXXXX 

One or more fields *X, *Y and *Z have been specified but the corresponding local origin parameters @LOXORIG, @LOYORIG, @LOZORIG have been omitted, or vice-versa. Re- enter the process and enter fields and parameters in pairs:
          *X + @LOXORIG
          *Y + @LOYORIG
          *Z + @LOZORIG
Fatal; the process will be exited.

*** Error

- Unable to add local origin field to output file XXXXXXXX 

The process is unable to add an implicit local origin field specified by the parameters @LOXORIG, @LOYORIG, @LOZORIG to the output file indicated by XXXXXXXX. This file may already contain too many fields. Reduce the fields to the maximum required and re-enter the process. Fatal; the process will be exited.

Processing

The following messages may appear as a result of errors encountered during the execution of the process. These errors can be split into the following categories:-

Files

The following messages relate errors in reading and/or writing of data. 

*** Error

- Reading System file.

The process failed while reading the supplied system file.

*** Error

- Writing to output file XXXXXXXX

This file may be write protected or there may be insufficient disk space available.
The output file XXXXXXXX has been created but the process is unable to write further records to it. The process will be exited.

Input format file field contents

The following messages relate to errors encountered during the decoding of input data. They may be caused by inconsistencies in the field values within a &FORMAT? file, or mismatches in &FORMAT? file entries and the actual data being read from the system file.

*** Error

- Fixed format decode of field XXXXXXXX
START field contains value YYYYYYYY 
Fixed format decode requires numeric column position only.

The field XXXXXXXX has been specified as FIXed format in the input format file, but the START field column position contains a non-ascii character. Edit the input format file containing format data for field XXXXXXXX and provide the correct numeric column START position. Then re-run the process. Fatal; the process will be exited. 

*** Error

- Fixed format decode of field XXXXXXXX
INFORMAT field contains value YYYYYYYY
Fixed format decode requires numeric value only.

The INFORMAT value for field XXXXXXXX contains an alpha numeric entry. INFORMAT must be in the form n.m :

ntotal number of digits in input (including decimal point).
mnumber of digits after decimal point.

START and INFORMAT values in the input format file for field XXXXXXXX do not match the input data. Study the displayed input record to ensure the correct values are supplied. Fatal; the process will exited.

*** Error

- Fixed format decode of field XXXXXXXX
START and INFORMAT field values construct format: 
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF 
This causes an error in decoding input record:
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

*** Error

- Free format decode of field XXXXXXXX
START and END string value search starting beyond input record length.
This process will process a maximum record length of YYYY

A FREE format decode of field XXXXXXXX has a START or END column value for search beyond the maximum acceptable record length.

*** Error

- Length of field XXXXXXXX in
Format file defined by INFORMAT value does not match START and END positions

 

The field XXXXXXXX START and END values represent the columns of the first and last digit of the value in the system file respectively. The integer value of INFORMAT in the input format file represents the total length of this value. 

        END - START + 1 = Integer part of INFORMAT value.

        The process will be exited. 

Input system file contents

The following message relates to errors encountered during the decoding of input data.

*** Error - Free format decode of numeric field
XXXXXXXX non-numeric value found in input record
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR 

 

The value found for field XXXXXXXX in the input system file record displayed does not match the field type defined in the input format file. #12;Notes

Limitations

Your application stores all numeric variables in REAL form. This puts a limitation on the number of digits that can be stored to 8, including a decimal point. The following areas require consideration:

-

Angles in degrees, minutes and seconds, in the form DDD.MMSS, may be stored to single second precision. Any additional digits, representing tenths of seconds, will be ignored. As most Mine surveying does not require this level of precision in angle measurement, this will not cause problems to the user. The electronic total station should be set up to enable storage of angles to one second precision, so that rounding errors are not experienced.

-

Coordinate systems that require storage of more than seven digits, must have a local origin defined by one or all of the parameters @LOXORIG, @LOYORIG, and @LOZORIG required. The origin will then be stored as an implicit field in the data file. For example, a point with the following coordinates, could be stored directly into a Datamine database file:-

 

X     1000.001
Y    4000.001
Z     1000.001

However, the following point would require a local origin for the X coordinate field:-

    Measured         LOXORIG           X value (stored)
X  43000.001         40000.0             3000.001
Y   4000.001                                 4000.001
Z    1000.001                                 1000.001

This need only be considered for the computation of survey station coordinates, in most cases, as millimetre precision for general surface features is unnecessary.

When FREE format input is specified, only one field may be allocated a value read between START and END separators. This is not the case with FIXED format input, where the same column locations (START and END values) may be assigned to more than one field.#12;Caveats

The system file must contain records with a maximum record length of 240 characters.

One input format file must be defined for each output file name supplied.

When FREE format input is being decoded, the user must ensure that the order of fields in the format file corresponds to the sequence found in the input system file. This is especially important where field values are separated by a single character (e.g. , ). 

Care must be taken in the use of wild card characters (?*) in the CODE values, as this may result in values being read from positions containing incorrect data.