TS. Surface Importer
The Surface Importer step is a new Setup Task step, included in the Alastri Tactical Scheduler release 21.2 and newer.
This step is used to flag dig and blast solids based on their position relative to the surface (above or below).
The Surface Importer step encompasses a table-like structure, where table items can be listed individually, or be grouped within folders. The main items of this tab are outlined below.
- 1.1 Toolbar
- 1.2 Flagging
- 1.3 Name column
- 1.4 Enabled column
- 1.5 Surface Triangulation column
- 1.6 Records column
- 1.7 Surface Options column
- 2 Viewing Results
Toolbar
The toolbar at the top of the Surface Importer step contains buttons to add a new type ("Boolean Surface" or "Percentage Surface"), Create a folder, Delete items, and arrows to move records up and down the list.
Flagging
There are two different types of flagging methods which are outlined in the table below.
Type | Description |
|---|---|
Boolean | The software looks at a solid and determines how much, if any, sits above and below the surface. Users can select a database field that will store the result, as well as the result value. A threshold value is used to help resolve cases where a solid sits both above and below a surface. |
Percentage | The software looks at a solid and determines the percentage sitting above the surface. Users can select the database field which will store the result. |
If you wish to flag a solid based on its position relative to the surface by a “True” or “False” primitive, select the "Boolean Surface" option from the dropdown of the Add Item button.
A "Boolean" type will be added to the list, which can be left alone in the table or moved to an appropriate folder to facilitate working with multiple entries. When you set this parameter, the program will analyze the solids and determine whether they sit above or below the surface (if applicable).
If you wish to flag the percentage by which the selected solid sits above the surface, select the "Percentage surface" option from the dropdown of the Add Item button.
Similar to Boolean parameters, Percentages can be left alone in the table or moved to the appropriate folder. When you set this parameter, the program will analyze selected solids and display the percentage above the surface.
Name column
Users can give each entry in the table a name. The name given must be unique and can be configured by clicking inside the cell.
Enabled column
Users can choose whether or not the surface operation will execute by toggling the Enabled check box. If the checkbox of the selected entry is not checked, the configured entry will be saved in the Surface Importer tab; however, the flagging operation will not be applied to the selected solids. The entry will appear greyed out if not enabled.
Surface Triangulation column
Users can import the surface from a file or the Layers panel by clicking the dropdown in the selected Surface Triangulation cell, opening a Geometry Chooser dialog window.
To import a new surface to the project - click Select Geometry from File and specify the path to the file in the format ".00t", ".dtm", ".dxf", ".msr" or ".obj".
To import a surface from the Layers panel - click Select Geometry from Layer. In the dialog that opens, you can select a layer that was previously imported into the project or add a new one in ".00t", ".arch_d", ".str", ".dtm", ".dxf", ".csv", ".msr" or ".obj" format.
In this dialog window you can also export the added surfaces in ".00t", ".dtm", ".dxf", ".csv", ".msr" or ".obj" format.
Note that when importing large files, loading a layer in the Layers panel and running the associated steps (namely, Preschedule and Reserves) may take longer. In such a case, it is recommended to check the decimation parameters. See here for more details.
Records column
Users can filter what records are applicable in the entry by clicking inside the Records column cell. Upon clicking, a record tree will be displayed where users can choose the relevant records. The default is to apply to all records (<All Records>).
Surface Options column
In the Surface Options column, you can select the Database field for storing the result of the solid position relative to the surface. In the Configure window, the applicable database field can be selected. Please note that for Boolean flagging, three additional fields are presented. The values for whether the solid sits above or below can be defined in the Above and Below Values fields. The Threshold field is used to solve the cases when a solid sit both above and below the surface. If the percentage of the solid sitting above the solid exceeds the threshold, the solid will be considered as sitting above the surface.
The fields in the Field Name list can be customized in the Data Fields > Misc Fields step. Return to this Setup task step if you need to add new available fields to the list.
Viewing Results
The results of the Surface Importer step can be seen in all of the viewports containing the Data panel (i.e. Reserves and Preschedule Setup Task, main Reserves tab, Animation tab). The results will be stored in the applicable database fields located in the Data panel. An example of this can be seen in the image below; both the boolean and percentage type result are shown.