Trimble Business Center

It looks like the new LandXML 2.0 format supports some very important entities such as texture. This is a very valuable component when using tools such as Trimble Connect and Trimble SiteVision. Will this be supported by Business Center if it is not already. I don't think it is because the LandXML code refers to 1.2 (shown  in the first image below).

The cross section template table sounds intriguing. I do not know whats this entails but if I could:

• take an engineers typical standard cross sections from their software
• import them into Business center from a LandXML
• apply this as corridor templates at corresponding stationing
• perform some node clean up if necessary
  • Clean up would still consist of:
    • Tie slopes
    • Transitions
    • Intersections
  • This would be faster than digitizing 2D cross sections
  • I would assume there would be less translation hiccups
• Run these various templates along my corridor, densifying and modify as necessary
  • Still saving me a lot of time and not having to start from scratch

I think there should be a way of taking the smart data (cross section template, corridor template) from an engineers CAD software and bringing that into Business Center. If we have to build to their typical standard sections, why is this still a manual process? I understand there will be additional manipulation but I feel like this would be a good jump start at the start of a project and save some tedious steps. 

Short term (before fully 3D files) the engineer should be providing us with the following in a LandXML because a LandXML should be accepted by all CAD software:

• alignment
  • horizontal 
  • vertical
• Corridor
  • Typical Sections

From: LandXML Home 

Pat

The challenge with supporting v2.0 of LandXML that is really just a Carlson version of LandXML since they took over the "standard" in that time frame. We also have to support Leicas version of LandXML (HexML), Topcons Version of LandXML (MaXML) and also the European Version of LandXML called Inframodel (which is at v4 now).

The second challenge is who else supports LandXML 2.0 - there aren't many companies that write 2.0 Files that I know of - I will check with contacts at Bentley and Autodesk for example - so when the world is still writing 1.x (which was an Official Standard) it is hard to put effort into v2.0 which we are not seeing files provided in that way (at least not very often if at all)

The benefit of a Standard at least is that if elements are added by a vendor that extend the standard then an "old version reader" will still work by ignoring the new coded elements.

I will look into this again with other vendors to see how worthwhile the support is.

I would hope that exchange between e.g. BC-HCE / TBC and SiteVision / Connect  would not depend on an open format like LandXML and would read a rich internal format like VCE / VCL instead.

Also I have not read the spec for the Cross Section Tables in LandXML 2.0 however I find it hard to believe that there is any format that can reliably recreate Cross Section Templates from all of the software vendors out there - Again I will take a look at it, but I am not confident that this is "easy" to achieve.

We already import the data that we have always read from LandXML from a v2 File - but we currently do not support the Texturing etc and some of the other features of 2.0.

Let me take a look at this Pat

Alan