Exporting data from PocketTopo to Wals - its possibile!

[saycomp]

Hello

Sorry for my horrible English.

If you want move data from PocketTopo to Walls, you must export it on Therion format and next use small program to convert it:
http://www.svalbardmap.com/public/distox/converter.exe
(no viruses, spyware, etc.)

Best regards

saymon
---------------------------------------------------------
Wet, cold and dangerous caving and most beautiful caves:
http://www.vimeo.com/11001612

[LWB]

I'm not sure who had the original question, but I have been exporting data from PocketTopo to Walls ever since I had a Disto X. Just export a text file. Open the text file in Excel (as fixed length fields) and format as desired - delete unused columns and rows, correct the stupid PocketTopo format survey stations to normal station labels. Delete extraneous shots at this point. In Excel create the equations to put the backsight Az and El where they belong in the Walls format (I do this on a separate page). You only have to do this once and can copy and reuse with each survey Then copy and paste into Walls. The splay shots have no backsights, so I put them at the end of the file since they don't require the extra formatting step. This sounds more complicated than it really is.

[Martin Sluka]

correct the stupid PocketTopo format survey stations to normal station labels.

I really apologize myself, but: Way do you think the PocketTopo format survey stations is stupid and yours is normal??? The PocketTopo stations numbering come from program named Toporobot, it's roots are somewhere in beginning of 70th. I'm sure it was one of (if not only one) computer program to calculate complex surveying line of that time. The computers were very very "week" in that time and to find really usable format and structure of stations labels was not an easy think. Author of Toporobot, Martin Heller, one of the most clever men I met in my life, found the way. A bit abstract but very useful on week comps. Toporobot use many cave surveyors till now.

Please, don't be so hurry to use words as "stupid".

Martin Sluka

[Martin Sluka]

Detailed description of PocketTopo format and the workflow (not only for therion users):

http://therion.speleo.sk/wiki/doku.php?id=paperless

[LWB]

Martin,

I certainly don't mean to insult Martin Heller and his accomplishments. I met Martin Heller in 1981 and I certainly agree he is brilliant. He wrote his program to deal with Holloch, and we were using other software to deal with our cave. The survey station format we use goes back to the 1950s, but some restrictions were added with the advent of computers in the late 60s and early 70s (ie no Greek letters). I realize there are a lot of station formats in use - the most common being one or more letters followed by a number. Pocket Topo does not support this - although it appears that most cave mapping software does. And I would guess that most users of Disto Xs (thus potential users of Pocket Topo) do not use the number dot number format.

Of course they can always use Auriga if they want to view the data in the cave. But in my opinion Pocket Topo's non-support of the most common survey station format is plain dumb. I did ask Beat Heeb about it, and he only wrote Pocket Topo to support his Disto X and he does not consider supporting a wider audience something he wants to spend his time doing. That is his choice - individuals only have so much time. Its actually a shame, because with a few perhaps relatively minor changes, Pocket Topo could be very widely used. It's simplicity (compared to Auriga) is nice and the ability to sketch on the screen could be perfect for smaller passages.

That said, Pocket Topo works fine downloading Disto X data after a trip. It easily goes into Excel where those "annoying and incorrect" (if you prefer) survey station labels can be fixed before copying to Walls.

[Martin Sluka]

I did ask Beat Heeb about it, and he only wrote Pocket Topo to support his Disto X and he does not consider supporting a wider audience something he wants to spend his time doing. That is his choice - individuals only have so much time. Its actually a shame, because with a few perhaps relatively minor changes, Pocket Topo could be very widely used. It's simplicity (compared to Auriga) is nice and the ability to sketch on the screen could be perfect for smaller passages.

Just few links:
http://marcocorvi.altervista.org/caving ... /index.htm
http://paperless.bheeb.ch/download/DistoX.pdf
http://paperless.bheeb.ch/download/Calibration.pdf

It looks all the eggs are together.

;)